freedom

Free as We Want to Be

We’re as free as we want to be. Perhaps it’s a trite statement, yet with the Fourth of July holiday upon us, I cannot help but consider it.

Freedom is a choice. At least for those of us that are fortunate enough to live in countries where we aren’t punished for speaking our mind in private conversation or online. You need only look at Turkey’s ongoing crisis to realize that free speech is not certain in this world.

Yet many of us don’t feel free. We feel trapped by the rat race, that we’re not engaging enough online. We feel like we should meet preached expectations of social media success.

Some fear being viewed as positive or negative, or having our personal views and feelings exploited by friends, family, employers, and yes, the government. Others of us feel like we’re suffering through litanies of rants and negativity while desperately seeking meaningful connectivity.

Government and big business offer their own dangers, perhaps taking away our rights to privacy. In recent months we’ learned that our social network conversations are compromised via the NSA’s PRISM programs. The major social networks have a council of censors or free speech advocates (depending on your perspective) that decide what conversations should and should not be taken off the Internet.
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Get Off the Grid

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Patagonia winds whisper to me like it was yesterday.

How I crave to be in the mountains walking up and down rugged landscapes, hoping to see yet another breathtaking view, some aspect of the world I never expected, and breathe in the clean cool air.

To be surrounded by nothing except the stunning wilds, untethered from the Internet, no cell phone, just an occasional group of people, most of whom don’t speak English or give a damn about me. Ah, heaven.

This was freedom, the ultimate escape from reality.
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In Darkness Find Freedom

Given the Independence Day holiday, let’s discuss a modern freedom that comes with going dark on the Internet.

turn off your phone.
Image by Anna Douglass

I’ve been enjoying a vacation for the past few days, in large part because I don’t feel the need to be online.

Electing to go dark for extended stints has been hard. There were emails I wanted to respond to, updates to post, and conversations that seemed interesting and worth joining.

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Ronin

Ronin – A lordless samurai, especially one whose feudal lord had been deprived of his territory. There are many of us today, many more than 25 years ago, even 10 years ago. The economy combined with the empowering freedom of… Read More »Ronin

Punk Social Media

On February 2006, the Sex Pistols — the four original members plus Sid Vicious — were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Their response: “Next to the Sex Pistols, rock and roll and that hall of fame… Read More »Punk Social Media