Freedom

Independence Day has just passed us by. America is 235 years old, which is a little bit scary since I remember vividly the matching patriotic bikinis my 4 sisters and I wore in 1976, when the country was just 200!  I don't know about you, but as I grow up, I think of it more in it's intended terms, rather than hot dogs, fireworks and mattress sales.
The word freedom is important on a daily, small-scale basis. I am free to decide today whether I want to sew or write or vacuum.  I can take a walk or take a ride or take a nap. No one is telling me that I can't. I remember when my son Tim got his driver's license.  I asked him what it felt like.  His one word reply? "Freedom".
Since Rick and I moved to Texas, the concept of freedom, as an American citizen, has resonated with me in much more powerful ways. I imagine it's that 'pack up your wagon and head west, young lady' idea.  I know that I've felt the power of my ability to choose, not only where I'd like to live, but what I'd like to do and what I'd like to talk about. It is extremely easy to take these rights for granted, isn't it? For some reason though, I have been more mindful and grateful for these privileges since we came to Texas.
Maybe because I have a friend from India.  She has been here for 10 years on a work visa working as an architect.  She retains and has taught me much of her birth culture.  She is a gifted and brilliant woman of many talents...she's an artist, a writer, a photographer, a Reiki healer, a lover of yoga, massage and all things spiritual and holistic.  She is worldly and well-spoken.  She speaks often of what will happen in the coming months, when her work visa, which restricts her to earning money only from her profession (architecture) and not her art, expires. She will need to leave a country that she has grown in, grown to love.  She will need to leave behind her sister, now an American citizen, not to mention many friends, peers and colleagues.  She has experienced many of the freedoms America stands for, but has also learned of the limitations placed upon her because she is from another country.  I know that I will miss her! I also know that when I think of my freedom, I somehow keep coming back to her. Continued blessings, my friend, wherever the wind takes you.
Freedom also makes me think of bravery. Sometimes you're born into a situation, or you blindly follow the leaders before you, and for some people, that's enough.  In America, when it's not enough, and if you're brave enough, you have the freedom to choose.  You can stand up and say, "This is not right for me and it's time to choose something better, something healthier, something smarter."  When you look at the ripples that afforded you this thought process, you can trace them back to the men and women who founded and fought for this country. There were those who just thought, "Of course the King of England is in charge of us and we'll never waver in our loyalty!" But then, a growing number of people decided they were not willing to be sheep, not at all willing to be 'herded' or reigned over.  They had the bravery to fight for their, and consequently our, freedom. Simply looking at the way wars were fought then, lines of men with muskets and bayonets walking directly toward one another, toward almost certain suicide, shows the guts it took to form America. 
I consider myself lucky to have been born an American.  Our country may not be perfect; let's face it, what really is? But I know that the actions of our forefathers, the ripples they began, resulted in the freedoms, both small and large, we so value and cherish today.