free/die

free
Not imprisoned or confined, not controlled by obligation or the will of another

die
To cease existing, especially by degrees; fade


Freedom is easily taken for granted by the large majority who are born into the very right of not being under any one's control.  If we live our life without the feeling of not having something, then by all accounts it is hard to imagine, or really feel what it might be like to not have that very something. Freedom like many rights in our American society is granted to most, yet across the globe not to all, even today. We can all agree that living a life of freedom is something all of us would prefer, and don't believe is only present in the great state of New Hampshire.  A state that goes so far to say that this is the only way to live, if not, then the only solution to such is death.  Over my lifetime I have spent a good amount of time in the Granite State, and continue to spend many days throughout the year there.  And so as we packed up the car and headed out on a Friday afternoon, a Friday before the ultimate celebration of freedom in America, our Independence Day, a rush of warm pleasant feelings started to overcome the presence of predictable highway traffic.

As we pulled into our destination, unpacked and stretched, I couldn't help but breathe in the fresh outdoor air, listen to the environment, alive with sounds of distant animals and activity, and connect it all through the sight of a pair of loons slowly swimming by; the ultimate couple.  Yes this certainly is the way to live, bursting with freedom.  This is seemingly the only way many of the outdoor critters know how to live.  Their end of this way of life is when they eventually cease to exist.  And so I continue to come back to the NH slogan and embrace "living free" in my environment, something that I haven't stopped to think about much prior to this weekend. 

Unplugging from the busy routine of life is essentially freeing oneself from the imprisonment of obligation.  As I disconnect and enter into a consciousness of freedom from duty and responsibility, I take in the beauty all around, as my senses continue to work, feeding my body.  Living free from the control of obligation or the will of another is certainly great, but not without its problems.  Like many things in life, it is not perfect, not perfect by any means. Sometimes the very things that make life great, like freedom, do not come without a cost. You see, this freedom means that any one individual can do mostly anything he or she wants within any given moment.  It means the freedom to drive ones boat through a narrow channel not more than 15 feet deep towing the all excited water skier, never once stopping to think about what impact this may have around them.  It means the freedom of shooting off dozens upon dozens of fireworks lakeside for hours, disturbing nearly all living things from their normal freedom of their own lives; ignorant to the man made waste that litters the lake habitat days later showing up in the natural waters.  And it means that in many cases, our very human freedoms leave a trail of footprints throughout the world for everyone else to just deal with.

The long weekend did not only leave me recognizing this, but left me with a greater understanding that freedom is to be appreciated, cherished, and respected.  And most of all, even when those around you make this very hard to do, the company of family and friends can more than make up for it.