independence

I have always been an independent spirit. Even as a young child, I welcomed the opportunity to show off my self sufficiency and to this day it is very important to me that I maintain my independence. One of my firsts posts on this blog was about freedom. It is one of my essentials in life and something that is very important to me.

The terms freedom and independence are often used interchangeably, even by me. Although they are similar concepts, I do think there is a key difference.

Freedom is an external force, a product of society, that creates opportunity for individuals to make their own choices without restraint. Independence is an internal force, a state of mind, that propels people to make decisions and take actions to become more self reliant.

Children move away to college to ease their dependence on their parents, people start their own businesses to ease their dependence on an employer, people strive for financial freedom (here I go again, I meant financial independence) to ease their dependence on responsibilities. All of these people are free, in some sense, yet throughout their lives their degree of independence shifts based on their circumstances and their state of mind.

One could argue that those who are free can be extremely dependent on others and those that are not free can still be independent. A young child is free however they rely on their parents for shelter, food and the basic necessities of life. A young adult may have established independence from their parents however they are the most susceptible to the oppression of societal expectations. Many of us have often felt trapped in the must graduate college, must find a job, must get married, must buy a house tradition that has become "the American dream" or more aptly "the rat race."

There seems to be a correlation between age, freedom and independence. The young are truly free but often dependent and as they mature, they become more independent but less free and perhaps as they reach old age, they revert back to being free but more dependent. Obviously there are exceptions to this but I think this holds true for many Americans.

What is more important - freedom or independence? I would say freedom because with freedom comes the opportunity to be independent while independence alone does not guarantee freedom.

What does complete freedom and total independence look like? I imagine it involves unlimited opportunity coupled with the intelligence and courage to make the right choices. I hope I find out one day.

I wish everyone a Happy Independence Day.