I wouldn’t say I truly knew that the two words were actually different. In my mind, they lived between a fluid and a fused state of existence and meaning. They always seemed like interchangeable synonyms. They appear as twins at times….siblings in others. As I take my time to observe the world a little more, I am beginning to see the silver line betwe//n…-^;
The two words have created much confusion and unwanted realities in their linguistic lifetimes. The term Freedom, in the context of the American way, has been overused, distorted, and muddled beyond recognition. It has become a default term with no weight or impact.
As a teen, and like every teen in existence, I wanted freedom. Freedom from my first “oppressors”. Freedom to do what I want, when I want. Freedom to choose. Freedom to refuse. Freedom to express. I deserve freedom. I am an individual. It is my birthright. Me. Me… Me….. Now that I am a adult-father myself and can look back at my teen years. I did have freedom. Maybe too much even. I was exercising it wildly. Flailing it around, no regard for my surroundings— with the safety off and finger on the trigger. Freedom is not what we have been conditioned to believe. Freedom is reactive. Reactive to an external context. A perceived authority. A claimed oppressor. We put them as the center of our motives. To get away from. To rebel from. To break from. To prove them wrong.
Freedom has you asking them for permission. To remain bound….but loosen the chains. To stay dependent……but don’t stray too far for too long.
Why do we negotiate with the enemies in our mind?
Why do we wrestle with hollow thoughts? There are plenty of world issues to wrestle with.
Freedom carries the past inside it. The very word declares that something was wrong before. There was oppression, and now there isn’t. There was a chain, and now there isn’t. But notice — the oppression and the chain are still the reference points. Your orientation is still shaped by what you were trying to get away from.
This is partly why one who gains freedom don’t automatically feel whole or settled. As a veteran, this was the hardest realization to uncover. Freedom doesn’t tell you where to go. It only tells you that you are no longer stopped. It’s like being released into an open field with no map and memories of your past self to reference from. The absence of the fence is real, but it doesn’t give you direction or the tools to build anything.
Sovereignty on the other hand doesn’t need a preceding constraint to make sense. It doesn’t need pain as a reference point. It is less about what was removed and more about what is present and intact within you or your people.
It’s a positive condition rather than a negative one — meaning it’s defined by what is, not by what isn’t anymore
Are we truly ready for sovereignty?
Sovereignty requires discipline while Freedom may exist with or without discipline.
Freedom asks “What are you no longer subject to?
Sovereignty asks “What are you the author of?”
Freedom is the story-loop you have to endure until you realize you have your own story.
Sovereignty is taking full control of your being and playing for your own kingdom. It is surrendering to self, taking up arms with self, and allying with self.
This isn’t a small shift. It’s a full psychological flip and invert—similar to Earth’s magnetic poles flipping. There is a rupture in routine and habitual order.
In order to take full control, you will inevitably be presented with the choice of deliberately letting go of past pains, wrongs, and any psychological architects one has created to justify any victimhood. That means all old modes of distorted motivation must be brought to awareness and transmuted.
Sovereignty is a powerful declaration of self governance and, at the exact same time, the gravitationally subtle form of forgiving and accepting ones past in order to start from where one is at now. A silent form of courage. The courage to not require an applause for doing what is required.
Lets stop trying to start from where we were or where we think we should be by now. Let’s start now.
If sovereignty had a price tag, it would cost your past. It would cost you no longer using a past narrative as a reference point for living your present life.
Accept the past as the price of admission.
There are two forms of freedom:
Former Freedom
Liberated Freedom.
Former Freedom says I am no longer controlled.
Liberated Freedom says I am the source.
The equation:
Letting go of borrowed freedom + claiming authorship = Liberated Freedom
Reaction → Release → Creation
From free from → to free as
Step into being now.