Freedom

When I was younger, I often wished that I wanted to be free. But one would wonder, what does it mean to be free. For instance, I was never locked up in any kind of way. I never had to run away from an abusive relationship, whether romantic, familial, or friendly. Moreover, I grew up in a great environment. In other words, I always had everything I wished for. Yet, I still wanted to be free.

Usually, children are asked what their favourite animal is. Until today, I always say a tiger, and I genuinely adore tigers. However, whenever someone asked me what animal I would wish to be, I would say a bird. A tiger is strong and independent, and that’s what I always wanted to be. But a bird can fly freely in the sky and go wherever it wants. For some reason, I always cherished the idea of freedom, even if it was never a necessity in my life.

As I grew, I realised some freedoms are needed in everyone’s lives but are not understood or seen when we are children. For instance, the simple wish to be yourself without any reservations is not realised until later in life. Or to do whatever you wish to do without being judged. It is sad to see how society creates expectations and a specific route for everyone. However, sometimes that road is just not the one we might want.

I always wanted to be a bird because I was born in a tiny country and an island. Thus, to go away and travel, I had to fly in the sky. Although I love my home country, there are times I feel suffocated. So, if I had wings, I could spread them and fly to any other place I wanted. Now, I am privileged to do that whenever I want. And luckily, I had the chance to travel to several places and even live in different countries.

Well, not now because of COVID, so perhaps that’s why I feel nostalgia towards my wish to be a bird and fly away and far. Nevertheless, thank you, god, for giving people great intelligence and created airplanes. Because I love flying freely in the sky. (Well, we all know it’s not free to fly) They do say freedom always has a cost, right?

What is your favourite animal, or what animal would you like to be?