What does freedom actually feel like?

Is your first thought, “Well, it’s not…” ?

Go ahead. Fill in the blank: Freedom is not __________.

You may have answered: Not feeling trapped. Not restricted. Not having to work so hard. Not having to feel in control. Not having to…

Which is interesting, no? Freedom is the absence of something?

It can certainly feel that way. When we don’t have to be something, do something, have something, or feel something.

But what if freedom felt… free? Unburdened, unchained. Loose, relaxed, and at peace.

Those ordinary moments of ahhhhhh.

When you go to bed instead of checking one more item off your to-do list, without the need to justify to yourself why it’s okay to stop.

When you shut your phone because you feel like it, not because you’re feeling guilty about how much time you’ve spent on it.

When you walk away from that last slice of pie because you’re completely satisfied.

Moments where there’s no fight. No inner struggle to make the “right” decision. No tug-of-war between one part of you that’s trying to “be good,” and another part of you that’s trying to sway you towards something that seems wrong or indulgent.

When this conflict is absent, what’s there?

Real choice. Acting with intention. With confidence. Responding rather than reacting.

Almost by default, freedom gets defined by the lack of negatives. Perhaps, instead, we can begin to perceive it as something with a shape of its own. Maybe we can step into it. Embrace it. Let it spread through us.