On Fences and FREEDOM...

"You were born to dance to the beat of your own heart.  To roam without cages, with the innocence of a child and the free spirit of untamed horses.  I hope you laugh without stopping, live with abandon and love like that's all there is.  Stay wild."  Unknown

Last week our surrounding neighbors decided to replace the perfectly good 6' wood fence with an 8.5' fence for "privacy".  During the process, and for several days - our neighbors yards lay naked to all our views.  I stepped outside believing that I would feel watched, uncomfortable, too open for my sense of safety and privacy.  What I found astounded me...

As I stood on my patio looking out across 3 neighbors wide open spaces, I felt FREE.  I felt an overwhelming sense of openness, and all I could think about was how I could breathe deeply.  I thought about the first settlers out west and how they could stare out across miles and miles of land - open, unblocked, spacious.  It must have been glorious - because in those moments of standing there in the wide open of our backyards - I felt wildly free!

"To live is the rarest thing in the world.  Most people exist, that is all."  Oscar Wilde

Are fences mean to keep stuff in or to keep stuff out?  Fences are interesting things and I don't mean just the physical kind.  There are all kinds of fences, obstructions, cages, and containers that surround us in our lives.  Social and societal rules, community/familial behavioral norms, job related norms, relationship rules and our own mental and emotional constructs.  Whatever they are, these are fences, cages, obstructions, containers in our lives each and every moment.  

I don't mean to say these are all bad.  We need norms to help society run smoothly, to protect others and ourselves.  But, what about the cages that hold us back, that prevent us from being truly FREE?

What about illness, disorders, sadness, fear, self criticism, self defeating thoughts and emotions?  What about rules of relationships that are oppressive, muting, overly demanding?  What about labels that "lock" us into an idea or place?

These are VERY TALL fences.  What in your life is a tall fence that you might need to get past?  Do you need to knock down that fence that says your body is too frail to be who you want to be?  Do you need to break out of that cage that says you aren't good enough to succeed?  Do you need to let go of that relationship or redefine it so you feel authentic, heard, and understood clearly?

"You have escaped the cage.  Your wings are stretched out.  Now fly."  Rumi

Step out of your cage, push that fence down, move the obstruction out of the way

Step into yourself, into your FREEDOM, into being fully alive and FREE!

I leave you with these memorable words from Cole Porter's song
"Don't Fence Me In" - 

Oh give me land, lots of land, and the starry skies above
Don't fence me in
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love
Don't fence me in
Let me be by myself in the evening breeze
And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees
Send me off forever but I ask you please
Don't fence me in
Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle on
Underneath the western skies
On my cayuse, let me wander over yonder
Till I see the mountains rise
I want to ride to the ridge where the West commences
To many words, gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
And I can't look at hobbles and I can't stand fences
Don't fence me in
Oh give me land, lots of land, and the starry skies above
Don't fence me in
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love
Don't fence me in...
Be FREE...
​Peace, Aprille