A Journey to Freedom or How to Become Real

Inside: Journey to Freedom – there’s an inextricable connection between truth-telling and unshackled living. We cannot know freedom without being real. And freedom is, largely (NOT solely), an inside job. This post includes a referral link.

My intuition or inner voice is telling me to allow this season of my life to be less about to-do’s or study and more about listening in to myself. It’s inviting me to loosen my grip and allow my personal journey to freedom or unshackled living, be rooted in freedom itself.

As I thought about this topic yesterday, what bubbled up was a word poem of sorts that reflects some of the hope, longing, and resistance I feel around the topic of freedom.

As you read, allow yourself to feel or connect with each word.

Notice what comes up for you – does a particular word make you flinch, or feel shame, or does it excite you, or make you curious? Where does this land in your body? Do specific stories or possibilities emerge about how “unshackled living” might look, sound, or feel in your life? Notice this and don’t be quick to chase it away because you feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, or judge it foolish or impossible.

A Journey to Freedom

Desire, pleasure, permission, hunger, neediness, worthiness
Passion, curiosity, relationship, communion, strength, anger, envy, wildness
Authority, equality, empowerment, intuition, self-trust, equity, safety, joyful liberation
Shame, rejection, fear, inner judgment, bondage, addiction, power, control
Intimacy, sexuality, listening in, vulnerability, self-touch, loving our bodies, tending
Self-care, soul-care, using our voice, asking for what we need or want, owning our stories and loosening our grip, life unshackled
Transformation, transition, becoming anew, our calendars reflect our core beliefs
Be still, self-compassion, tell the truth.

My mantra for my 49th birthday year is “Tell the Truth,” and it strikes me more clearly than ever before, the deep, inextricable connection between truth-telling and unshackled living.

We cannot know freedom without being real.

And freedom is, largely (NOT solely), an inside job.

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I decided the single most subversive, revolutionary thing I could do was to show up for my life and not be ashamed.

— Anne Lamott

what does freedom mean to you?

I’m clear on what freedom means to me; I am walking in freedom and can declare with confidence that I feel safe, at home, and joyful in my body and my life!

I suspect when most people envision a life of freedom, it mostly looks neat and tidy, shiny, orderly, all wrapped up with a big, bright bow. I suspect this is how I used to imagine it too.

But what if REAL FREEDOM, in actuality, feels much more like messiness, adventure, risk-taking, stretching, questioning, fighting, releasing, allowing, receiving, savoring, and trusting? What if it’s about stripping away all the noise, conditioning, and clutter so that we can meet and befriend our True Self?

Or maybe that’s just my own desire speaking up again.

Writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie says, “We teach girls shame (…) Girls grow up to be women who cannot see they have desire. They grow up to be women who silence themselves. They grow up to be women who cannot say what they truly think, and they grow up to be women who have turned pretense into an art form.”

(You can listen to Chimamanda’s TED Talk or read her book, We Should All Be Feminists.)

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To walk in freedom and feel safe, at home, and joyful in your body and your life we must reclaim our voice and agency, embody a new story for our life, offer our light, and trust that we grow into the strength that we need for each season.

Krista

what do you want as you journey to freedom?

To live in pretense means denying yourself freedom and what Poet John O’Donohue calls (and what I desire) “an awakened and full life.”

I want a messy, incredibly imperfect, beautiful, passionate, purposeful, delicious life.

I want to be REAL.

What do YOU want?

My inner wisdom has always been present and articulate though her voice was often drowned out by the noise of “Shadow-Krista”: my mean Inner Critic and her uber-anxious side-kick Fear. When our worrying and reasoning brains are quieted, there’s room for our inner voice – some might call this spirit, true-self, intuition, (what do you call it?) – to speak words of life and hope and liberty.

This work is deeply personal for each of us and involves honest questioning and the vulnerability and bravery to listen to our own responses.

Less heeding other people’s voices, watching what others are up to, or dutifully adding to our to-do lists in exchange for more inner work, reflection, yummy conversations, or soul-searching.

Less grasping for certainty and more willingness to live the questions.

To find freedom, we must say yes to living imperfectly – on purpose.

To walk in freedom and feel safe, at home, and joyful in our body and our life we must reclaim our voice and agency, embody a new story for our life, offer our light, and trust that we grow into the strength that we need for each season.

Krista xo

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