Mental Shackles

What does it really mean to be free?

Everyone seems to have a different definition based on the ways they feel they've been restricted. My parents grew up dirt poor, and they sought freedom through money. For them, the ultimate independence has come from their purchasing power and their ability to get what they want through financial means. In the political realm, freedom might take on meanings of being able to say what you want, have the guns you want, be in control of your body, and other interpretations revolving around, "this should be my right, and no one should be able to take it away from me."

For the last decade, I have been systematically going through my mental space, and finding that for me, this is where true freedom exists.

Exploring my mind one day, I found a collection of records.

It was a jumbled mess of albums that I had chosen for myself, tunes that my parents and ancestors had given me, jingles that had surely come from television and movies, and a whole set of records that had been installed through public education and my conservative, semi-religious upbringing. Together, these formed the lens through which I experienced and understood the world. It was clear that some records were played regularly, some were collecting dust, and others were stored under a menacing-looking lock and key.

The record collection could be compared to software programming in a computer, or a code that makes a machine run. It's more organic and dynamic, certainly, but that was the essence of the picture given to me.

It was clear to me that we have the power to cull our collection. We do not actually have to continue listening to that old Shania Twain record that pines about scarcity and hardship. The loops of shame, guilt and blame are not actually ours, and we have the ability to remove them entirely from the records.

Some particularly old and forgotten records were easy to pull and throw away. The majority required a bit more of a process, as they may have been stuck in there for ages, or there might be copies in other places within the collection that we need to find and let go of. A few seemed to even self-replicate after being thrown away.

The ones under lock and key are hard to get rid of, but not the hardest. The most challenging are the ones you can't actually see. And herein lies the difficulty for many: they cannot actually see the collection. Countless people have no idea what is creating the ideas that spill out of their minds, guiding behaviors, actions and thoughts that drive them crazy, that they wish they could stop and just can't seem to quell.

"I don't know why I keep attracting unavailable partners."

"Why do I keep having bosses that drive me up the wall?"

"If only I could break out of this cycle of scarcity, addiction, abuse..."

And those are just the obvious and extreme examples.

The hidden programs of our subconscious mind are writing the scripts of our lives, and until we shine a light on them and make a conscious choice about what to do with them, they are in control.

The tools of learning how to see what's hidden are readily available, and the key ingredient is a desire to know. Perhaps not surprisingly, that is where numerous people get tripped up. They don't actually want to know, or don't actually want to change. There is some odd safety and uncomfortable comfort in keeping things the way they are. It is predictable, familiar and always leads to a known outcome, even if it's undesirable.

True freedom, soul-level fulfillment, depth of purpose, authentic truth and the gift of presence are all available, if you're willing to take a look in the shadows and free yourself from the chains of unconsciousness. And while none of what you find is your fault, it is in your care. As an infinite, boundless, unconditionally loving soul, you are more than capable of seeing, knowing and holding dualistic truths, practicing forgiveness and creating the magical life you dream of. There is nothing the light of your spirit cannot alchemize. Be free.