‘Freedom is knowing that you can begin again.'

I keep receiving messages from people who resonate with this definition of freedom. And I am glad because it is absolutely my favourite.

In so many circumstances I had nothing left but this. It started as an affirmation, and it was bound to some kinds of vague hope. Then it transformed into a belief. One day I just embodied it and it became my life experience.

In the last couple of days, I have been questioning my relationship with freedom. At least with this freedom. My brother would say that we officially stopped being young, and my dear friend would say that it is time to stop dreaming. ‘Stop, stop, stop’. While in my heart there is only, ‘Begin, begin, being’. 

And yet the possibility of ‘stopping’ managed to scratch the surface of something deeper and an uninvited question arose quite forcefully: ‘What if I became addicted to new beginnings, and now I do not know how to stop?’

And my mind directly went to the movie ’50 First Dates’ (based on a real-life story). Lucy, after a car accident, suffers from a form of amnesia where her memory for each day disappears during a night of sleep. Basically, for Lucy every day is indeed a new beginning.

Wow! This may look like a dramatic situation for creatures of habit like humans! Poor Lucy, she also forgets her partner Henry, so she could never experience real love! Poor Henry, each morning he works hard to make Lucy fall in love with him, as if it was their first time together. 

I got my answer. Yes, I am addicted to new beginnings, and I do not know how to stop. Better: I do not want to stop! To my eye, Lucy has a great – which does not mean easy - opportunity! An opportunity to let go of her identity and her narrative, and to choose herself and fall in love every day!

Wouldn’t it be great to wake up every day as a brand-new you?
Wouldn’t it be great to fall in love with yourself and your life every day? 
Again and again and again.

I can’t wait to read your thoughts below.

(Photo by Karim Manjra on Unsplash)