Sunday 5 July 2009

Feeling free


Summertime, for many of us the time to go on holiday, and slake the bonds of work and everyday life, a time to feel free.
Feeling free doesn't depend on being on a holiday, of course. The elation freedom invokes may rise from any combination of circumstances, great and small, like taking part in a ritual, or slowly exhaling the smoke of a cigarette, while watching the sun set. It's always an experience of intensity, an upsurge of well-being, joy, and relaxation, and one you're not likely to forget.
I can feel free, when after a swim I'm lying in the sun-stoved sand of a Mediterranean beach, and for a while let the grains slip from my half-closed fist. On another day I may have a fit of freedom from sharing a very juicy peach with someone I love. These are the small joys of life, which can be reiterated as long as a sunny beach is at hand, or a sappy fruit, and someone to share it with.

However, these things can't be done over and over without destroying the thrill. There must be an element of coincidence in it, a taste of surprise, a sudden realisation that everything is just perfect, your state of mind, the person you're with, or without, and the ambiance. Then, a surge from within will lift you up, and make you soar like an eagle.

To be free, for one it is sky-diving, for an other sitting under a tree, no obligations, or eating out with friends. So, bar the obvious, what happens to be your special brand of free?

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