Recently I had someone at my house from another country. They have lived here for quite some time and I asked him why did he come to the states. I am always intrigued by other cultures and always curious if foreigners feel the same, that they come here for freedom too. I have heard some Canadians and people from New Zealand say that us Americans live in fear of our government. That blew me a way. Really the land of the free, how is that so? A perception that was unknown to me. Isn’t fear a lack of freedom, so how can we be free? Anyways, this gentlemen said he came here to be free. His government, when growing up, was very oppressed and coming to America was freeing. This concept of freedom has always had me thinking and analyzing. About what it truly means to be free. Can we live any where and be free??! I now know that you can be. Freedom exist within your heart and how you extend it outwards. It’s not about what you have or where you live but how you live within yourself. How you listen to your true self and letting the beauty within yourself shine. Sure we all come from somewhere, like our upbringing, our place of domicile, or where we have travelled on in our path but what remains forever, is your heart. Freedom is how you live out your life and the choices you make. You either go against your own nature or with it. It’s about learning to be completely present with your self and being you. Listening to your own truth and letting it shine regardless of what others think. An example of this is,if your familiar with pearl street in Boulder, there is tons of homeless people and street performers being who they are. Everyday they get judged, possibly a hundred times, on what they do, living and playing in the streets. Even in this judgement they continue on. How I see them is they have the courage to put themselves out there regardless of what others think. I personally think they add to the character of Boulder and make this place unique. They teach us so much about courage, strength, and giving and receiving. They are no different from you and I. When you Stand in your heart and Let all that truly doesn’t matter go, you live in a life of personal freedom. Do your work so you can be who you are meant to be. Let your light shine! When you do this, we will see that freedom does exist within ourselves not outside of ourselves!!!