The Naked Truth And the Freedom To Pursue It

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Lord Tennyson says “…Then she rode forth, clothed on with chastity:

The deep air listen'd round her as she rode,

And all the low wind hardly breathed for fear...”

I still remember standing  before the lady Godiva clock in Broadgate, Coventry, UK, waiting for the clock to chime the full hour and usher in Lady Godiva on her hourly naked ride and  wondering what would have made a noble lady of great standing with an arguably very good heart parade the streets of Coventry naked on her horse. One of the many tales of Legend has it that her compassion for the people of Coventry was so enormously immense that Godiva despised the shame and contempt of doing so in order to convince her husband, Leofric, the 'grim' Earl of Mercer and Lord of Coventry to relieve his subjects of the crumbling heavy tax burden  imposed on them. Today in her honor, she comes out many times a day and rides naked on her horse… you can see her here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRZ5BZemk4M

As I stood there I couldn’t help wonder how the drama of lady Godiva which unfolds every hour as she comes out naked on her horse symbolizes in metaphoric power, a truth that is significantly more profoundly empowering when it is naked.  Just as with her nakedness she despised the shame and overcame the powerful tide of tax oppression which enshackled the people of her day, when one begins to unmask and undress any perceived and tailored and clothed and veiled truths one begins to know an encouraging power that only the naked truth can give. When the truth is nude, bare, with nothing on, stripped, unclothed, disrobed, unclad, undressed, uncovered,  undraped, exposed, stark naked, there is something unbelievably invigorating about it and there are few things more powerful. 

Backed by the naked unvarnished truth we can be launched into many places from solid ground. I believe that our Freedoms must be inextricably bound to this all too important freedom to pursue the naked truth and to know its charms, liberating strength, catapulting power and beauty; where ever it may be found.

It was Eleanor Roosevelt who said that “No matter how plain a woman may be, if truth and honesty are written across her face, she will be beautiful.”  This kind of beauty is endearingly and powerfully enduring. How drawn are you to the naked truth?

 © September 2014 afesehngwaHilary

More precious than my iphone 6

His names was Hughes,

Favorite subject of my muse,

Met him on a boat cruise,

He was one of the many crews,

His father and mother were Jews,

Through his service I made him pay his dues,

All the way from Havana to Santa Cruz,

From then on we went everywhere in twos,

Like the inseparable gander and the goose,

We would go running and get wet in the morning dews,

It was hard to tell who’s whose,

We navigated our way through many religious don’ts and doos,

Caught in an affectionate loving which let love ooze,

Before you feel like you want to be in my shoes,

Let me tell you that after a while it was all a ruse,

Out of nowhere the love structure lost many screws,

Will all its falling parts desperately in need of glues,

With the folly of many ewes,

I refused to listen to the warning views,

I refused to heed the shouting clues,

I had waited for him in many queues,

As I queued I denied to take the cues,

While I waited I drowned in booze,

To check and reign in my anger fuse,

Encountered many a bruise,

Bruises which left me in many blues,

Certain the bruises will help me choose,

So I let the pain of knowing Hughes,

Give me many lessons and life-long choosing clues,

The news is that I am better and getting on another cruise,

The next adventure more precious to me than my iphone 6.

© September 2014 afesehngwaHilary

Freedom, mental, physical or both?

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When one pauses to look at the greatness which has every once in a while been forged behind jail walls in the course of history, one is tempted to wonder if it is not indeed possible to be within the confines of tall walls with guards and be more free than those without the same. It is even more tempting to flirt with that question when one looks at the iconic Nelson Mandela who had the effrontery to turn down release from prison until certain conditions were met. He was keen to ensure that his core principles and the heart of the things he stood for, the very things which brought him to prison where not compromised. He was released on his own terms not just from a prison of physical walls but also from that jail of a heart which harbors hatred and bitterness. He himself captured it beautifully when he said: "As I walked out  the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind I'd still be in prison."  

Today as the scales of justice swing like a pendulum and the sword of punishment swings teasingly over the head of Oscar Pistorius, I am left wondering what kind of tumultuous emotional storms he has to weather, whether  he harbors any hatred and bitterness towards himself, whether he has or is capable of forgiving himself for his planned or unplanned(we may never know) atrocity even if the justice system acquitted him of every charge. If Oscar Pistorius ended up in a jail of physical walls, will the family of Reeva Steenkamp ever be able to purge themselves of the bitterness and hatred which naturally should ensue from circumstances so inexplicably painful? Is it possible that irrespective of Judge Thokozile Masipa's ruling,  in end some will remain trapped in the jail of a heart which harbors bitterness and hatred? What does it mean to be free? Is it a physical or mental thing or is it both? Is it possible to be physically bound and yet be free? Is it not possible to walk freely yet with every step walk with or towards an imprisoning entrapment of bitterness and hatred for self or others, rocked by mental and emotional agony of proportions so epic one would prefer to be trapped within the tall walls of a prison cell? What does it really mean to be Free?

Brussels © September 2014 afesehngwaHilary

Laxative of Love!

Its worst toxic effects are in the heart that harbors them,
So with the laxative of love purge yourself of bitterness and hatred,
For the hate and bitterness you harbor,
Will make you irritatingly labor,
From a futile emotional exhaustion,
That drains you and leaves you thinking unclearly,
Potentially pulling the trigger of the loaded gun of self destruction,
Let love be my aim,
Let love be my method,
Let love be my end,
Help me God.

Brussels © September 2014 afesehngwaHilary

Never been loved like that before!

Dear dear dear gone away Bradley,

You said and showed that you love me madly,

Giving me ample permission to love you gladly,

The joy I knew with you now visits me hardly,

The pitch dark vacuum of your absence comes to me sadly,

Today I remember all the tiny little things which made you mine,

The tsumanis of your love uprooted me for years numbered nine,

And launched me into orbits I have never been before to shine.

On many things with the spice of our love we would dine,

Cruel destiny dislocated the bonds which allowed our love intertwine,

Now I feel like I eternally lost my spine,

As I sit here over this glass of your favorite wine,

Getting ready to ride through your bus line,

To go for a walk in our favorite park by the grape vine,

There I‘ll be sure for a little while to whine,

And pray on my way back I’ll see a sign,

Pointing to and directing me to where you are,

For I have never been loved like that before!

Brussels © September 2014 afesehngwaHilary

My Freedom is tied to yours!

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My freedom is inextricably bound to yours. This is one of the theses which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., espoused in his “I have a dream” speech on August 28, 1963. It appears to be one of the things which many a great freedom fighter agree upon. Nelson Mandela also expressed it when he said: “For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

Through and by a design which was orchestrated independent of our will and consent from the creation of time, we share this world and the earthly space we inhabit. Advancements in science and technology are increasingly facilitating our ability to move around and shrinking the distances which separate one end of the world from the other. We are now even daring into space and areas of the universe uninhabited by man.

When we look around today it is not hard to come to the undeniable conclusion that a threat to freedom anywhere is a threat to freedom everywhere. It is not hard to see how a lack of freedom in parts of Ukraine engendered a recklessness which has consequences that have now stolen the lives of citizens spanning many countries around the world. It is easy to see how the seeds of extremism are spreading around the globe, from the Middle East to Africa and the Americas, threatening the ability of every single person in the world to live freely from the palace of kings and presidents to the poorest persons in the hamlets of the hinterlands, in church and out of church, in schools and you name it. It is hard to think of a place on earth where one can run to certain freedom. A lack of freedom like disease knows no boundaries and nobody except in folly can claim a disconnection from a threat to freedom anywhere in the world. We cannot turn a blind eye to it and must be concerned by it.

Central and core to the concept  and pursuit of Freedom and the ability to be free is therefore a security that in doing so we allow others and give them permission to do the same. While this may not be easy I think we all have a responsibility and need to go about living forward towards freedom with a consciousness that we are not robbing fellowman/woman in the process. In a weird way my freedom is inextricably tied to yours and yours to mine. Let us make a genuine effort to live it out in a manner which reflects this. Is this possible? Now that is the million dollar question.

©anhilaire

Freedom Thoughts

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I lay on my back, peering at the ceiling, trying to rest from a long day's labors when I suddenly wandered into a mental space where my mind settled and wondered, contemplating what it means to be free, what it has meant for me in the past, what it means for me now and what it will mean going forward. Even though some of the madness in the world today seems to have been with mankind for a long long time, the world is truly becoming stranger than fiction. The flip side is that it makes any semblance of sanity and normalcy look liberatingly miraculous and maybe can trigger a greater sense of gratitude for the things we take for granted,like just being alive - it is not a given, it really isn't. When freedom is introduced into the equation it becomes even more interesting and exciting as freedom in every sense and every meaning it conjures appears to be as vague as it is a rabidly strong desire. 

Being alive and free is even less of a given, it really is. Countless men have pursued freedom, whatever they perceived it to be and many have lost their lives in the process, paying the ultimate price, making the ultimate sacrifice. Out of a keen desire to be free myself I look forward to spending a lot of time on the topic of freedom with you, exploring it, dissecting it, looking at all its possible facets and hopefully inching closer towards knowing that holistic freedom which mostly eludes us, in the process. 

As eloquently captured in the picture above the plan is to either get free or die tryin! The eloquence of the art in the picture also tells us in unmistakable terms that it is not all pretty and smooth and flawless, that irresistibly attractive pursuit of Freedom. 

Once more welcome to CreedofFreed and let the ride begin.

© anhilaire