Absolute freedom? How often I have heard people mention about their need for absolute freedom. To define it, I quote some of them, “there is no restriction or control and one is free to conduct life her/his way, doing her/his things, and the way s/he wants to do them.” In short, they do not want to be obliged to anyone but be their own masters.

Apparently, “each of us is trapped within our own mind, unable to feel anything but our own feelings and experiences.  It is as if each of us is trapped in a dark room with no windows.” Says a scholarly article.

I recollected the concept of alienation and its repercussions that I had read in detail for an interview I was to conduct once as a  journalist. Also, I remembered the oft quoted line, “man is a social animal”.

To add to the lot, “existentialist author and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir notes that as children we shoulder no responsibility; we live in a ready-made world with ready-made values. As we mature and become acquainted with our freedom we can begin to take matters into our own hands. However, many of us revert back to our childhood ways, trading freedom for security.”       ( http://www.newphilosopher.com)

I wonder how many of us, who have used the term absolute freedom, have given a thought to the usage itself. Referred in a casual manner, most of us may not even understand its real significance.

There are mothers who have told me that they have kept a day of absolute freedom from children and responsibility, husbands who set out on a boy’s day out a week, and men and women who sleep throughout the day on a weekend.

True, it is a feeling we often look forward to, little realising we are still submitting and surrendering ourselves to various factors. Probably, sneaking into the absolute freedom enjoyed by some others, who may be, the means to enjoy our absolute freedom.

When I asked some of my friends and acquaintances if they would like to have their absolute freedom forever, they hesitated. A few days of life debarred from responsibilities and attachments may be a good way of rejuvenating and getting one’s life organised. Forever, indeed nothing is forever!