“Born free, as free as the wind blows,
as free as the grass grows;
-Born free to follow your heart.”
These memorable words form part of the chorus of
the very popular and multiple award-winning song of the same name, which was composed
by John Barry and Don Black and
published in 1966. The song was originally part of a very successful movie that
followed the lives of a couple in Africa who
had adopted an orphaned lioness and helped the animal to return to the freedom
of life in the jungle. But it did not take long before this beautiful song came
to be identified with everything to do with the freedom of man’s spirit and the
accompanying need for him to be free, especially against society’s increasing
tendency to institute rules and regulations designed to maintain conformity.
Jean-Jacques
Rousseau, the great Genevan
philosopher, social critic and author, drew attention to this developing
concern more than 300 years ago when he introduced his ground-breaking treatise
on philosophy and social reform entitled “The
Social Contract” with the following observation:
“Man is born free, but everywhere he
is in chains.”
He suggested that man in
his original habitat was, like any other animal, living his life happily engaged
in satisfying his urges and his desires when the need arose, but not concerned
about collecting or keeping anything he has no use for. To Rousseau’s mind, the
original man, born free, was able to fully live his life fulfilling his needs completely
with everything he desired, without any reason or intent for anything he did
not need or have use for the moment. He lived his life only to satisfy his
immediate needs without any interest in trying to impact others in any way. He
was, as the words of the song noted, “free
to follow his heart.”
But
with the gradual advent of society, with its rules and its regulations designed
to assure conformity, man has moved gradually to relinquish this free spirit of
satisfying his needs only, and not hoarding the rest, into a more competitive and
aggressive instinct of not only exacting his own needs, but also seeking other
things he did not need in order to exert power and control over others. Motivated
by this desire to satisfy his convenience and comfort, he relinquished his
sacred responsibility to live free, and has willingly accepted group subjectivity
with all the accompanying hardships and unhappiness; and being convinced that
this action was for his own interest and enhancement. In this way, under the
guise of interest to maintain uniformity and stability, the world constantly
tries to curb the very essence of the free spirit and reduce it to the level of
conformity. This development has led the very well respected American
journalist, essayist and cultural critic, H,
R. Mencken, to very effectively and correctly describe the end result of
society’s influence in these terms:
“It seems to me that society always
wins. There are, to be sure, free spirits in the world, but their freedom, in
the last analysis, is not much greater than that of canaries in a cage. They
may flap their wings and sing, but they are still in a cage, and sooner or
later the cage will conquer them.”
But
even in today’s society, beset by a whole variety of rules, laws, controls and
traditions, free spirits abound and are the driving forces for all the good
changes that take place. They are the people who dream dreams of better things,
and then try to implement them, without being concerned about what others think
or what they believe. They do everything within their power to avoid coming
under controls, rules and restrictions, preferring to find their own path and
walk to the beat of their own drum. Their passion for life is overflowing as is
their dreams to live it to the fullest. They have an insatiable drive to
explore new frontiers, to challenge old ideas and experiences, and discover the
wonders of life. They prefer to live in the moment and eagerly engage with
people, places and things around them in their search for answers. They avoid
the trap that so many of their peers fall into, of developing a self-ego, and
spending their life doing everything solely to impress others. Unlike the
superficial and subservient approach that others find convenient, to a genuine
free spirit, the thoughts, beliefs and behavior emanate from a source deeply
embedded in their spirit and remain an insatiable and driving force to finding
success after success. An author whose name I do not recall very effectively
described this person in the following manner:
“He is a person who lives according
to his own rules, wishes and beliefs, unconstrained by society’s
conventions. He is a person with a
highly individual or unique attitude, lifestyle and imagination.”
In
this modern era, we are witnessing a great surge in the global expression of
people of free spirit determined to do what they can to change the world. This rapid
surge in entrepreneurs that has been NDS$occurring, all of whom willingly
venturing away from the established standards and norms and deviating from society’s
rules and customs into the unknown, could only have been achieved by
individuals with the strength of character and confidence of personality to
challenge the status quo and choose their own path. Steve Jobs, perhaps one of the freest spirit of all, described this
best in his unique way when he addressed the graduating class at Stamford university in
2005 and said:
“While some may see them as the crazy
ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think they can
change the world, are the ones who do.”
But
such a free spirit is by no means limited to these relatively few people whose
efforts change the world. It is present in every setting and every walk of life
and living. All it requires is the vision of a need, a conviction to change and
the courage to proceed. I have no doubt whatsoever that every one of us will
have no difficulty to recall many examples of friends and acquaintances who
have exhibited actions that can only be described as free spirited. My earliest
personal encounter occurred at an early age. It involved a family of free
spirited individuals whose father was a close friend of my father. Very early
in my life I became aware that his children were extremely talented people whose
life exuded the type of confidence and optimism that can only be seen among
people of free spirit. Even at a very early age, Boscoe and Geoffrey Holder were accomplished dancers, artists and
painters with personalities that were as free as the very wind itself. Their
careers eventually carried them from the small Caribbean
island of their birth to the highest pinnacles in the world of art and
entertainment and gave them international recognition. A fact that they
understood and freely acknowledged as this quotation by Geoffrey clearly demonstrates:
“We are too quick to put labels on things. It is my
profession. I get up and paint. Everyone wants to put a label on it. But I am a
free spirit, so I fight against it.”
This to me, is the hallmark of a genuine
free spirit. A freedom that allows us to give free rein to everything we think,
say or do to satisfy our dreams and our needs. One that allows us to do so,
while allowing others the opportunity to be free. It demands a degree of
morality and maturity to allow others the freedom to express themselves with
equal vigor and energy, without the urge to curb or discourage. It certainly
does not imply the possession of any exclusive type of endowment or special
capability in the individual, but rather a freedom to do things that satisfy
their own personal needs without impinging on the needs of others. Professor Stephen Hawking, the great
English theoretical physicist and world renowned cosmologist, who achieved
phenomenal success all over the world, even as he suffered from advanced
debilitating disease. He was a superb example of a person who successfully
lived a full and rewarding life giving full expression of his free spirit. When
asked, the secret of his success he unhesitatingly replied:
“My advice to other disabled people would be: concentrate on things that
your disability does not prevent you from doing well, and don’t regret the
things it interferes with. Don’t be disabled in spirit as well as physically.”
This indeed is the finest advice that can be
offered to anyone in search of their free spirit. It will never be found in the
eyes of another, but can only be found deep in searcher’s soul after all the
external debris has been lifted.
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