A Rambling Treatise on Independence

Today, July 4th, is a good day to think about independence.  I have to confess that the liberation of the United States from the Crown of England is so long ago and far removed that it has little emotional impact on my life.  The joy over formation of a new country is also tainted for me by the associated genocide of some Native American branches of my family. 

One thing I can celebrate is that this country was created by floods of refugees from religious oppression.  This new country was to be one of religious freedom.  Liberty and justice were to be available for all.  It took awhile for the new Americans to figure out who "all" meant.  We're still working on the willingness to offer freedom and opportunity to "all".  (For corroboration, take a look at any indian reservation or inner city ghetto or corporate boardroom.)  The idea is a noble one, at any rate. 

I'm not sure how much longer we will have religious freedom, so I'm making sure to enjoy it while separation of church and state is still legal.

Another aspect of this day that I can wholeheartedly celebrate is the concept of independence.  I'm also a big fan of the concept of inter-dependence, which is the idea of us all relying on one another for our society to work.  Independence is something I'd like to see a little more of, as cultures lose their distinction into the homogenized soup of modern civilization. 

What forms of independence do I crave?  Independent thought is first on my list.  I check to see where my ideas come from.  Often I see that my ideas are not really mine.... I've swallowed someone else's beliefs without thinking them through.  Sometimes I notice that I've formed my understandings from one singular fountain of information, all biased with the same slant.  It's helpful for me to check a wide assortment of information sources before sifting the purported facts together, running them through the filter of my own intuitive perceptions and personal experience, finally deciding what I think.  Only then can I begin to have independent thought.

Independence in relationships is another thing I crave.  My tendency is to be amorphus, then form myself to the crowd at hand.  This trait can be useful, helping me to be comfortable in any social situation.  Sometimes, though, I realize that I'm spending time in a way that doesn't appeal to me at all.  Then I understand the need to clarify what my interests are and are not.  How do I want to spend my time?  Understanding my own innermost priorities, along with confidence in my own choices, lead me toward independence in relationships.

Community independence is another important issue.  I have a fantasy of loving a completely self-sustaining lifestyle: Solar power to provide electricity, well water, wood burning stove for heat and cooking, vegetable gardens and fruit trees for food, raising chickens for eggs.  Truthfully, that lifestyle isn't entirely palatable for me.  I have several friends who live that way, and their life requires an awful lot of hard work and sacrifice.  I'd love to be free from dependence on the national energy grid.  As we all know, the thing malfunctions periodically, with dire results.  I'd love to be free from city water and sewer systems.  I just wouldn't love to perform all the manual labor that goes along with alternative systems.  So I do the best I can to compromise.  I have a backstock of food and battery-operated devices in case the power grid ever goes down in my area.  I grow food in my yard, and continually nourish the soil with compost.  I network with my friends and neighbors, so that we know who can provide what in case of emergency.  Here in Drought Central, I keep bottles of extra water in my garage.  I try to increase my efforts at independence every year.

The word "independence" can mean so many things.  For me, it has a thousand connotations both pleasant and unpleasant.  As I reflect on it today, my own definition becomes a little clearer.

© Copyright 2006 bonnie willow. Last update: 8/23/2006; 10:06:05 PM.