Freedom

Yesterday, we who have the privilege of calling the island nation of the Bahamas, home, celebrated 39 years of Independence. Thirty-nine years of sovereign rule..of monitoring our own self. Yes, we are still fairly young as a nation and have tons of lessons to still learn but we are getting there!

As I live between two, although it feels like three, countries, this is the 3rd Independence celebration in less than two weeks and it has had me thinking about what freedom is and what it means to me. I usually think of my freedoms in terms of worship (religion), speech and voting. Those have been most salient and I am uber grateful for them. However, there is sooooo much more freedoms that I experience but are often not even aware of.

Since I've been focused on the development of my many business ventures in the last couple months, during this Independence celebration, I couldn't help but think on another freedom I have: to pursue any type of job, career or project that I choose. Something that I never thought of before, probably because it has never been regulated. I chose my area of study and then I had the option to chose which organization I wanted to work at and launch my career. A couple years later, I then chose to pursue an advanced degree and now have the freedom to choose which organization I would like to work with. More excitedly, I have creative freedom to develop a new organization and business; the only limitation being that the business offers services and products that are legal. The only other limitation is a personal one- how far, wide and big I can dream.

It was only at this new found realization, that I stopped and thought about the stories I have heard, of individuals in other countries who are limited to pursue degrees (by their government) based on gender, social economic status/class and other variables that are used to segregate the population. Wow, what would it look like, if as a female, all I can do is be a housewife, or even a teacher? Both are very noble callings, which I will probably enjoy at some point in my life, but are not the fullness of my purpose and calling. These thoughts make me very happy to be a citizen and resident of two countries that offers equality and justice for all.

I can be whoever I want to be when I grow up! ;)

March on Bahamaland!