Summary: The juice of this article starts on Paragraph 4, but if you have a profuse interest in reading and absorbing every word (and erroneously placed articles A/THE) of mine, please enjoy the whole passage.
This is my favorite character that came out of the brain by mere accident and through some will power effort, but I will not put the intimate details of an artistic process here because I feel like there must be some room for enigma, otherwise my artistic image will dissolve and vanish (no, but let me be a coquette).
Well, the term Freedom is quite complex and might be interpreted differently even by 2 people having intimate relationships. However, it is my blog, so I will ride my ego horse here, so let me present the greatest philosopher of the 21st century, AFWonderlander!
- Freedom... (sighs with deep glance inwards followed by an undiverted stare into the distance). One of the important aspects of freedom is a decision to question all dogmas you are being taught. When we are little, to a significant degree our mind and attitude are being shaped by parents and mentors, and societal impact is secondary because it plays a role of a probing agent and a playground where we can apply and test everything we imprinted from the authorities. Later, we grow up and one of the important symptoms of adulting is an ability to make weighted and thought-through choices regardless of the external opinions. Many people, unfortunately or maybe fortunately enough, grow through traumatic experiences, yet there are also plenty of people who grow up feeling adulation and attachment to their mentors feeding them with pleasantries. While in the first case it might be traumatic factors that limit one's sense of freedom, constantly pulling them down by suppressing their sense of themselves, in the second case an attachment to the favorable and comfortable teachings and conditions can also be destructive for an individual pursuit of a personal truth, since the convenient paradigms occupy that vacancy. So, what are your decisions typically driven by? Why do you make your daily choices? Is it your trauma, comfortable habit, or attempt to get phantom approval?
Well, to return your mind and free will back to you, I will share and interesting method I discovered on the Internet, my AFPeople! The method, as you could gauge from the title is called "5 What-For's". And the essence of it is to honestly answer to 5 successive WHAT FOR questions when you are about to make some decision and look at the final answer. For example, I woke up and realized that I need to lose 10 lbs. I start asking myself WHAT FOR and try answering with all honesty:
1st WHAT FOR answer: I want to look thinner ---> WHAT FOR?
2nd WHAT FOR answer: It would look better than my current shape ---> WHAT FOR?
3rd WHAT FOR answer: To feel more confident ---> WHAT FOR?
4th WHAT FOR answer: To start appealing people ---> WHAT FOR?
5th WHAT FOR answer: To feel less lonely.
Boom. There is the answer. Minus 10 lbs = No loneliness. Is it a satisfactory situation? Not quite, because we notice the attachment to a social norm that dictates that the physical appearance needs to be this and that to be suitable for making friends and finding lovers. Let's now look at the same -10 lbs situation analyzed with a different mindset:
1st WHAT FOR answer: I want to feel more agile ---> WHAT FOR?
2nd WHAT FOR answer: To be more active and efficient ---> WHAT FOR?
3rd WHAT FOR answer: I have a job that feeds me and hobbies that fuel me, so extra energy from optimizing my body will help me in doing what I truly love ---> WHAT FOR?
4th WHAT FOR answer: To feel alive and to be entirely happy ---> WHAT FOR?
Here the algorithm might break because we came down to a more or less truly personal preference and so-called weight-loss agenda becomes not a manifestation of insecurity, but simply an optimization problem for one's personal success.
The bottom line: try experimenting with the WHAT FOR question sequences and discover your hidden intentions. Are you living your free will or are you seeking a comfort of approval?
Here are the links to the Man of Freedom accessories:
https://www.afwonderland.com/product-page/aftote-bag-man-of-freedom-100-organic-cotton
https://www.afwonderland.com/product-page/aftee-man-of-freedom
https://www.afwonderland.com/product-page/aftee-auguste-trio