“When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.” - Ralph Ellison
Freedom and self-knowledge go hand-in-hand. The pervasive definition of freedom is that of being free to do as one pleases. One part of this is freedom granted by a governing body to do and say as one pleases. This is just the bottom piece of the pyramid of what it means to be free. It is a necessary foundation of freedom, but it is not the end all.
The top of the freedom pyramid is freedom from ones own mental suffering. Freedom necessitates a clear mind. You cannot act as you wish if you do not know how you wish to act. In this way, a prisoner can obtain a greater magnitude of freedom than, say, a rich white male in The United States. Having the the ability to act as you please means nothing if fear, depression, anxiety, or other mental forms of suffering prevent you from acting in that way.
Another prerequisite for freedom is knowledge in general. Ignorance restricts one's freedom. Knowledge of oneself by itself is critical, but it is not enough. You must know yourself and what you are capable of as well as a thorough understanding of the world you live in and the way that it works. This is no easy task. In becoming wise to the ways of the world, we will constantly be bombarded by impediments in the form of false thoughts and beliefs stemming from ourselves and others.
False beliefs can be maliciously seductive. They can beguile the ego, appealing to our desire to feel knowledgeable and important. "We are deluded by self-centeredness, by pride, arrogance, and conceit" (An Inquiring Mind's Journey, Bhante Kovida). Each individual learns to be biased towards thinking they know much more than they do, and this arrongance on the level of the individual compounds into a shared collective pretentiousness that limits our appraisal of what we're capable of.
We feel more confident about what we know than we should, and this confidence is rooted in the false confidence others have of their own knowledge. This overzealous confidence of the masses limits freedom. This can decimate your ambition to stretch the boundaries of what you know.
Your Freedom is Woven With Others'
"You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them."
Ironically, individual freedom requires understanding that you and all of your actions are intertwined with others'. You cannot ever achieve complete control over external circumstances outside of your control. You can decide how you react to these circumstances. That is what determines your character.
Self-awareness is the most critical building block of having freedom in choosing your reactions to what other people say and do. Get to know youself ridicuously well through therapy, journaling, and meditation. Know what your triggers are, and learn what it feels like when you're looking yourself to anger, sadness, or any other strong emotion.
Some experiences with people we find difficult will test our ability to stay self-aware. When you're at your limits, it can help to remember that the person you're talking to isn't trying to upset you. It's not about you, and it never has been. We are all fall prey to the seducing, self-sabotaging of taking things personally.
Instead of recognizing how connected we are to each person who touches our lives, how similar there problems are to our own, we make their pain about us. People are not there to compare yourself to; they are there to connect with. Connection alleviates feelings of anxiety and depression that cloud the mind, and by connecting with others, you will learn more about yourself. The more you know about yourself, the more freedom you will gain access to.
