Freedom

How does a person explain freedom? Do people have rules when they are free? Do they only act accordingly to what will benefit them the most? I see freedom as the road. I’m not talking about one of those roads where when rush hour hits, it looks like a clogged artery. I’m talking about the open road. The kind of road that you see in all those movie where the person is driving without a care in the world. I’m talking about a road less traveled. That’s freedom. The act of living without being stressed or pressured by others. When you’re on the open road, it’s okay to blast your music to what you want to listen to, instead of being forced into playing the “Top 20” just so you won’t look at you differently. When you’re on the open road, you can’t be judged. The open road is a place of self-serenity. It’s a place of self-reflection. It’s a place of self-perseverance. What could you learn from driving on the open road? You learn things that you don’t know about yourself, but once you’re driving on a deserted, empty road for hours and miles on end, self-reflection comes natural. You start to look back on your life to see what opportunities you missed out on and to learn from your past mistakes. People look back on their lives for two reasons. The first reason is to reflect on the good time that they had had when they were younger. They look back to see which decisions led them to being happy once before. The second reason is so the can reflect on the bad times they had endured. The look back on these times to learn about their true emotions. It could be about the girl that got away, or it could be about a father that had passed away due to his destructive decisions. These are the worst of times. These are the times that knot-up your stomach when you think about them. After thinking about these times, a person goes through a time of self-perseverance. They look at the olden times and they wonder how they ever persevered over them, even though the struggle seemed as vast as an ocean. Then, they realize that they can overcome any challenge that comes their way. They have already endured the worst of times. These olden times make the modern times seem easier to endure. It makes them able to endure the erosion that time will have on them. After this time of self-perseverance is a time of self-serenity. A person can finally be at peace with themselves. They don’t have the stress of deadlines or the pressure of others bearing down on them like they are bound in chains. The open road is a learning experience. It teaches something that schools cannot offer. It teaches people about themselves. You cannot learn about yourself in a book. You cannot “Google” search your name and find your inner being. You cannot write an essay and learn about yourself. That’s why the open road is freedom. It’s freedom from judgment, freedom from rules, freedom from yourself.