Freedom of Expression

In this time of mask-wearing, I find myself asking some strange questions, like: “What expression is really on the face of someone else with whom I may be speaking, or greeting with a nod?” Or, “How do they know that I’m smiling at them in acceptance of who they are, or what they’re saying?” It was disconcerting untiI I realized I have to shift to my eyes – and theirs- and our body language – in order to better know what we each wished to reveal as the sub-text of our words.

How do we reveal the truth of our real thoughts and feelings? And why is this important – or not – to our individual beings? Long ago I came to know that holding back true feelings and thoughts takes a lot more energy than releasing them, and that holding back damages us at every level of our existence. Having been a bodyworker I understood that it produces tensions in our physical being – but the harder we hold back, the deeper those tensions go, moving into our minds, our energy levels, our psyches, and, ultimately, our spirits. At every level of our being, we are harming ourselves and setting ourselves up for discomfort and disease, and those negative effects begin to affect all of our relationships and the situations and outcomes that are the reactions to our not expressing what is true for us.

Long ago there have been others who, seeing this, developed different practices – some physical, some mental, some spiritual – or combinations of all three – to bring ourselves into alignment and harmony, to free ourselves to speak and live the truest expression of who we are and to explore our own meaning of life and the paths we wish to walk that bring the greatest joy to ourselves and others.

Whether or not we admit it to ourselves, we all yearn for our freedom – whether from a repressive regime or an oppressive and dangerous society that doesn’t extend equal rights to all due to divisiveness and intolerance. This holds true not only for humans but to every expression of Life – the animal and plant worlds included. We all have a deep inner yearning for the freedom to allow the true expression of our beings.

We wish to uncover, through free exploration, the exact nature of our individual trajectories in life, to feel the exhilarating pulsing of self-discovery and mastery of gifts we had not known before. We yearn for joy and fulfillment and deep contentment from being “at one” with ourselves, authentic and real. Discovery is one of the gifts from living a life filled with the freedom to explore and learn. And when we fulfill our “inner directive” to express fully who we are meant to be, then we are one with ourselves, and we are set free!