Freedom?

I was reminded yesterday of the word 'Freedom'. In particular the idea of not being subject to or affected by a particular undesirable thing. 

I get to do what I want for a living, it's what makes me wake up each day with a smile on my face with thoughts cruising through my head about what to make and how to make it. Everything else is.....well it's important too.

Thursdays are a day of payment for me. A day when I re-pay my gracious hostess with labor and often company as we weave through the farm attending to various chores. Yesterday was a particularly nice sunny spring day which made for an enjoyable afternoon. And yet I cannot help wonder what my life would be like if I were only to do what I wanted to do. What if I spent that day in the studio like the previous days? What if I just payed money to sustain my accommodations?

Time away from something you love is equally as important to the time you spend with the thing you love. For many reasons this is true.........as much as I might desire it to be false. It gives me pause to reflect on the objects I am making. I think about the curves, the texture, the colors, and it's purpose, all the while I am toiling away with my hands in the ground and the sun (or rain) on my back.

So I ask myself, what is freedom? Freedom from what? From the things I don't like? What if I was completely free? I couldn't even begin to answer these questions.

And so I settle into my routine. I try to find the pleasure in the things that others may find oppressive. There is good in these things too. There are lessons to be learned wherever I turn my head.

I remind myself of the things I am free from; city noise, cigarette smoke, traffic lights, crowds of people, concrete, an obnoxious boss, a time clock........

Living on Lopez Island is a wonderful experience. I am surrounded by amazing people who look at you in the eye, ask how you are doing, and are truly concerned about your well being. How much more freedom do I need?

It might be good to question our ideas of freedom from time to time. For me it comes every week, on Thursdays.