Freedom

It only seems natural that the next speech I am reading is by Gorbahev.  The last one was by Reagan.  They were contemporaries.  In fact, they had a bit to do with each other.
It was something they both said that got me thinking.  Reagan said “The wall (Berlin Wall) cannot withstand freedom.”  Gorbachev said “Freedom of choice is a universal principle…”  It was the word they both used that got me thinking.  Freedom.
There has probably never been a more universal desire to be free.  It is the surprise nature of freedom being cut of, that seems to haunt many.  The random nature of terrorist attacks, means they could happen at any time in any place.  It seems fewer and fewer places are seen as safe to visit.
Yet to me, freedom is more a state of mind then a state of being.  It seems those locked behind the most oppressive regimes can be free while those in the most liberal countries are not.
I remember hearing about a guy in a communist country that had been locked up.  He was not imprisoned for something bad he did, but for what he believed.  He was given the most undesirable task to do.  No one else wanted it.  What he had to do, he had to do alone.  Yet above all times he looked forward to that one.  Why?  Because he was alone and never felt freer to be himself.  Though imprisoned he was not bound.  Physically his life was literally the pits.  Yet in himself he was free.
That is easy for me to say of course as that is not me.  Yet I feel free.  Though I live in a great country, I am not immune to things that would keep me from being free in myself.  Whether I like it or not, it seems to be a part of the human condition that there are things out there that can get me.  I try to avoid the ones we all need to avoid, but there are also unexpected things.  Things that come out of the blue.  I don’t know that anyone can be ready for those.  It is no consolation to say “that will never happen to me,” as they could potentially happen to anyone at any time.  “A stroke could never happen to me”.  Arr, hello?, it did.  “Well apart from it happening it could never happen.”  That seems to be true for the most affluent, cruisey person, to the one who’s options are severely limited.
I remember someone singing “freedoms just another word for nothing left to lose.”  I agree in a limited sense.  To me, freedom can be had when we have a multitude of choices or it can be had when we have nothing left to lose.  We have been backed into a corner.  It seems though, that is never desirable.  It is never a first choice.  It is an only choice. 
A lot of people seem to see freedom as the absence of things.  Yet those things are always present.  If I live in a country where freedom of expression is discouraged and comes at a price, there are more things to hinder and bind, but it seems there are enough in our society to last a lifetime.
To me, freedom is not about where I am.  It is about who I am.