Do You Like to Be Free?

I lose my balance on these eggshells
you tell me to tread.
I'd rather be a wild one instead;
don't wanna hang around the in-crowd.
The cool kids aren't cool to me,
they're not cooler than we are.

(Wild Things, Alessia Cara)

Have you ever noticed that you belong to many organizations?  The schools you went to, the alumni clubs, the companies you worked for, the towns you choose to live in, or the church you go to. In our modern society we automatically get affiliated with organizations of all kinds. We go to pre-school that later becomes elementary and high school; we try hard to get into prestige colleges, those of us who can afford them anyhow. Did you know that some well-off parents stretch these networks to the limit? They compete to get their children into nurseries that claim that they will increase the odds of pushing the toddlers all the way to Harvard.

Children turn into adults who want to work for cool firms with plenty of upward mobility, good income and bountiful perks. We seek approval, security and impressive company that way. By seeking certainty, we hang on to these institutions as if our life depended on it. And when we are forced to stand on our own feet, we feel that an important part of our self has been ripped off. Lay-offs, mergers, or early retirements are torpedoes that we constantly try to avoid. Without this corporate umbrellas surrounding us we feel poor, lonely and scared. Never mind that we may even dislike these organizations when we are there.  

We can be free but we are scared to be free.  We want to be cool like our high society friends. We can be a different kind of cool by standing out from the crowd, but that takes guts to do. A spiritual traveler has little choice in that anyway; the WAY will encourage us to dispose of these golden handcuffs. Keep observing yourself and know what drives you. Purpose and passion in what we do is all that matters, everything else is is a waste of our time. Seeing is liberating. Let's observe our interactions with these organizations and let's keep an eye on the signals that encourage us to be free. This year may offer a perfect opportunity to break free from all that and find out who we truly are.

By Christian and Su Zhen