July 4, 2018: The Fourth of July is called “Independence Day” and is commonly associated with “freedom”.

Have you considered what this means to so many?

I considered and shared below some musings from a meditation today that demonstrates some of what these terms and this day means to me.

I have observed that conditioned patterns, formed from decisions made while quite young, usually pull me to act or react in certain ways. This pulling, associated with thoughts does not equate with freedom or independence.

The freedom to act in life comes from being totally present in the moment, thinking and then moving from that place into a goal or life’s purpose. Certainly, freedom and independence are not equated with seeing things clouded by previously decided or determined views.

So be present and act on your own. That would be true independence and freedom.

Further, falling into thinking of a need to be either “free” or “independent” can be considered a catchy situation, too. Neither is substantially real in and of itself and as such are created concepts put on top of being free to independently act in the moment.

Happy Fourth of July everyone. And for those in Canada who celebrated Canada Day a few days ago, best to you. These two created holidays represent the concept as well.

Calmly going forth,

Dan O’Brien