Let Freedom Ring

Recently, a few folks on Twitter and I got into a conversation about what "true freedom" is. It quickly became apparent that we all differed greatly on our thoughts and opinions on what this ubiquitous term meant. So when suggested, we decided to do a joint blog on the subject. You will find it posted on each of our blogs. This project is neat because we had one word and each came up with different POV. We all handled the subject with our own flare and finesse.

If you like these writers, I encourage you to follow their blogs as well, or at least run over to their blogs and check 'em out. You can typically eavesdrop on us on Twitter under #StabbyLove. Don't lie, I know you guys eavesdrop. Without further ado, let freedom ring...

Ashley Elizabeth's (mine, duh!)

Freedom is a pretty open topic. I mean, it's well open to interpretation. Freedom is defined as being free of confinement, regulation, or restraint.  I, however, think most people interpret this wrong. It seems when freedom is brought up, people talk about what they are freed from; people spend more time listing what they are tied to.

(It is imperative that I note that this viewpoint of freedom stands from a fairly liberated and democratic point of view.)

Someone may say that responsibilities act as the hindrance to freedom. Some people may fault responsibilities such as bills, debt, family, or significant others. But in reality, those are all choices. The responsibilities we have are ones we choose to live with. For example, I choose to have a computer, and therefore, I choose to pay for the electricity to power it.

I say I have true freedom because I suffer from no constraint, regulation, or confinement. Sure, there are things in my life (such as bills) that I have to bend to. But, I choose to. Freedom lies more in the mind. It is most likely why people feel they lack the freedom.

It is with purpose that I stand behind my decisions. I do not accept the "norms". In fact, I have a tendency to challenge them. I have stopped thinking about what I'm supposed to do, and I make choices that I am happy to stand behind.

Make a choice, stand behind it, and be present in your situation.

 Make the choice that you are going to be truly happy with. The choice that is solid to your core, moral beliefs, and your willingness to follow through. Then, instead of trying to pick it apart and looking for the strings that hold you back, look at the shackles you shed by making that choice.

Freedom is as intangible as your state of mind. It is a mental cage or a mental playground. It is a choice.

Ciara Ballintyne's

Freedom. What is it? Like many idealistic concepts it’s hard to pin down.

When I looked up freedom I got these definitions:

1.      the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint: He won his freedom after a retrial.

2.      exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc. 

3.      the power to determine action without restraint.

4.      political or national independence.

5.      personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery: a slave who bought his freedom.

You’ll notice there is a lot of talk about freedom from external control, regulation or interference, or lack of restraint. We certainly don’t have that kind of freedom in Australia or many other countries. Every time our government legislates to restrict guns, or ban smoking, we are subject to interference or regulation.

 In my opinion, there is no such thing as the power to determine action without restraint. Some people restrain themselves by their own consciences. The rest will take what they want by force if something else (the law or a stronger person) does not restrain them. Action without restraint is nothing but the rule of strength. The law of the jungle. That’s not freedom at all, in my opinion.

 My conscience restrains me. I’m happy for the law to restrain the people who don’t have one. And I regret there are places in the world that are not lucky enough to have the freedom we do.

About Ciara Ballintyne:

Opinionated lawyer and writer of high fantasy. Born not made argumentative. Caution: contents explosive in the presence of idiocy. You can find more about me at http://ciaraballintyne.com or follow me on Twitter @CiaraBallintyne

 Imran Siddiq's

Freedom deserves as many interpretations as the word itself implies. My take is a rather solemn one of caution. Most will state that they have the freedom to do whatever they wish to do, and that the hindrance against such would be a travesty against mankind. I agree to an extent, but then that does mean on what are they expressing that freedom to.

 I happily use my freedom to purchase, listen, read, eat, and drink as I wish. The ‘halt’ comes if I intended to use that freedom to harm, scold, tease, or damage something/someone. Just because I own a hammer, it does not mean I can smash a wall. No -  that is where the privilege part of freedom kicks in. I have the freedom to own a hammer, but I do not have the privilege to destroy.

 Freedom also comes with social barriers that can decrease the level you can apply. If someone heckles me in a conversation, I have the freedom to feel anger, pain, suffering, the dark side, but my social role might strangle my freedom to shout back. That is I being cautious. If I utilised my freedom, I could start an argument which would end up with someone being hurt. And as stated above, I do not want to use my freedom to hurt.

 So, I will sing and dance that freedom makes us unique to be someone/something without become a dystopian drone, but we have to curb that freedom when a situation requires sensibility and morale to prevail.

 About Imran Siddiq:

Not yet published, but I have a museum of tales I hope to extract and tell. Details of my progression can be found on www.imranwrites.com, and you can follow me on Twitter: @Flickimp

Mark Brassington's

“I'm free to be whatever I, Whatever I choose, And I'll sing the blues if I want, I'm free to say whatever I, Whatever I like, If it's wrong or right it's alright.” – Oasis, Whatever.

 Lyrics by Noel Gallagher and Neil Innes which sum my thoughts on Freedom.

It is my belief that God gave us all freewill, and therefore, the ability to make our own choices; and as I grew up I learnt the difference between making the right or wrong decision.

There have been plenty of times in my life that I have not felt free of a situation and completely trapped; being bullied at school, being in a job I hated, and under extreme pressure from the role itself and my then boss, even in previous relationships and of course bills; and as much as anyone of these things has brought me down and made me feel trapped I have pushed through them and come to move past them and accept them.

Probably the hardest thing for me from the age of about twelve onwards way for me to feel free to be myself, this ties in with me being bullied from around that time from at least another five(ish) years. You learn to not speak for fear of your own words being used against you, so that other do not learn who you are and what you like as this will become that latest in their line of ammunition during school life.

Eventually I left school but only to keep those same walls and as much as I became more confident as time went on the walls of trust still stayed up and I would say that only in the three or four years have I become free to be myself and tell people about me – “I read comics” “I am aspiring author” “I like sci-fi” – these were big things to admit but now I freely tell people and I would say that tough life lesson only gave me thicker skin.

So whatever makes you hold yourself back try to push these things aside as they are what makes you, you. Be free to be yourself.

About Mark Brassington:

In my day job, I work in Commercial Banking but I am unpublished aspiring author with hopes to one day tell my tales of fantasy and sci-fi. I blog about my progress and other things at http://markbrassington.wordpress.com/

You can follow me on twitter: @markbrassington  

Follow Friday #4

I have been out of touch with Twitter this week. But here's what I got from the little time I was online.

Here's the deal with my #FF. If you've been to my #FF blog before, just skip down, you don't have to read this twice.

There are plenty of people who didn't make this list that deserve to be on it. I make my list throughout the week, and while I may post a #FF because someone has shown how wonderful they are, I will not repeat the same #FF just because they continue to be wonderful. They have to have shown how wonderful they are to me in that given week. If I've forgotten someone, I'm sorry, chances are I'll put it in the next #FF post. I do not give #FF just because someone gave them to me. That's not how this works. If you want to be one this list, write something cool or show me how awesome you are by interacting with me on Twitter.

My Follow Friday's/#FF

@ciaraballintyne She does not comment on every blog post I make. However, when she does comment, it really shows that she puts thought into what she has to say. She seems to take a moment and consider the post. Then, she either gives good advice or uplifting motivation...sometimes both.

@sirra_girl She's thoughtful and cares about her flock... and therefore, good to follow.

@vizprod He's hilarious. He has a pleasant mix of disdain, sarcasm, and apathy that I find quite funny. While he does display all these traits, he does not whine or complain. That and he's cool.

@LornaSuzuki So she's a published author who has returned DM's. She's also got her books in production. So that's cool. Did I mention she's interacts with people on Twitter? Yeah, she's got success and took time to answer my questions. Double thumbs up.

Bad, Bad Writer

I should have learned my lesson by now.

You can't be a writer if you don't write. This is what I've been telling myself for the last several days. I haven't really sat down with the intention of really getting anything done. Sure, my new project has been open and added to, and my finished book is opened for editing.

But I haven't accomplished anything worth boasting about. In fact, it's the complete opposite. It's my own fault. And I wonder what happened to my love of writing. It doesn't make much sense.

I look at my finished (it's written) MS and I try to remember where my love for the characters went. When I go back to read it, I just see all of my errors.

But, today something happened. My landlord decided to give me the ideal scenario. She wants my guy and I to buy her house. No down payment, no increase in monthly payments, and depending on the circumstances, she'd even grant us an allowance for our home owner's taxes. This was just too good to be true.

But I realized that it would require I get a job that pays something decent so that my guy and I could afford to fix it up the way we want. Due to my "ailment" I can't really afford to be under too much stress or have too many projects going at once. This means one of two things. I must finish my book and get it published so I can get a well-paying job or I figure out how to earn a decent income from my writing.

Either way, I need to finish editing my MS.

End of story.

I'd lost sight of the bigger picture. And I think that's the problem. I spend so much time trying to make sure I'm not dreaming too big that I forget to actually take time to dream at all.

Follow Friday #3

Here's the deal with my #FF. If you've been to my #FF blog before, just skip down, you don't have to read this twice.

There are plenty of people who didn't make this list that deserve to be on it. I make my list throughout the week, and while I may post a #FF because someone has shown how wonderful they are, I will not repeat the same #FF just because they continue to be wonderful. They have to have shown how wonderful they are to me in that given week. If I've forgotten someone, I'm sorry, chances are I'll put it in the next #FF post. I do not give #FF just because someone gave them to me. That's not how this works. If you want to be one this list, write something cool or show me how awesome you are by interacting with me on Twitter.

MY #FF on September 15, 2011

After some rather unsavory and personal comments were left on my blog (which were deleted, no room for negativity here) a group, known as #stabbylove, came to my rescue. So the #stabbylove crew deserves a #FF.

@Safireblade She and I got to meet this week, which was very, very cool. She also exploded on the angry commenters. She took up for me hardcore, which was also very cool. She and I have very similar editing styles, and in her comment she left for the "angry commenters" I was able to learn that she can articulate things I've only ever thought of.
@FlickImp He's been on my #FF blog before. Very sweet and extremely devoted to his work. Wrote a great blog about synopsis, which is what earned him his place this week, totally read it: http://www.imranwrites.com/2011/09/11/synopsis-tips/

@Sirra_girl She's an editor and translator. She's very supportive of writers as general rule and has a blog to help: http://sirraedits.wordpress.com/sirras-write-tip-blog-for-writers/

@Ericaluckedean She's also been on here before. She's good with her words in her blog posts and in her comments.

@scooterchicken For his random recipe awesomeness. His pictures usually inspire my dinner recipes, which seeing as I hate coming up with what to cook, makes him a godsend. Check 'em out here: Pi R Round, Cake R Squared & here too: Time For Dinner

And a BIG #FF to:@HinduWannabe She wrote a post that got some well deserved recognition on http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2011/09/my-pie-monday-punjabi-pizza-buffalo-chicken-figs-and-more-slideshow.html#show-186139

Windham Hill and Writing

I'm sitting listening to one of my favorite albums. Don't laugh, but it's a Windham Hill Piano Sampler.

When I started listening to this CD, I was a kid and didn't own many. I usually got whatever my dad didn't mind parting with. One of those was the Windham Hill Piano Sampler. I couldn't have been more than 11 years old the first time I listened to it.  But tonight, over a decade and half later, I realized that I was predicting the music before it even reached the speakers. I knew what notes came next... how the wordless story unfolded. And it made me feel like I was home.

That is saying a lot. I was an army brat and my parents were divorced. I didn't really have a "home". Over the years, however, this CD traveled with me and was the calm in the turbulent times of my life. (Despite the fact that the music itself is not quite calm itself.)

This (of course) has a correlation to writing... several as a matter of fact.

• No one could ever tell me what my home was. No one would ever be able to define it or recreate it for me. It was something I claimed for myself. The same goes with writing. No one can tell you how to write. As many classes as there are, they can only help you if you let them help you. Your voice can't be recreated or defined. Of course you can try, but you'll never succeed. When a great writer is born, people compare others to them. Think of J.R.R. Tolkein, J.K. Rowling, or Jane Austen (3 of my favorite writers, by the way).

• I can predict something that doesn't have words. I'm connecting with the intangible. I can feel the way the music is going to move; I'm in sync with it. It's like the notes are being played from inside my chest. So it goes with writing. Most people hear the lyrics but forget that the instruments make up over half the song. Unless you connect with your writing and create a strong core, all you'll have is a few catchy ditties and rhymes.

• I also know how this music goes because I've listened to it so many times. The rises and falls are predictable, and in music, I believe that's fine. (I'd be kind of worried if I couldn't predict a song I'd listened to hundreds of times.) However, in the writing world, a good solid reader has seen it all and will be able to predict just about anything. If you don't think they have, then you don't read enough in your genre. Truth is, someone somewhere along the way has dropped the same "oh my gosh" moment or created the same relationship symantics that you have. Make us fall in love with your writing, be it your characters or your particular story, and it won't matter that we've seen it done before... because we will never have seen it done by you.

What Was I Thinking?

About six months ago, I decided I was bored with my life. Like most people, I saw things that I wanted to do, but never did them. I was either too embarrassed or didn't want to go it alone. At the end of the day, I saw more missed oppurtunities. Now, I am a fan of accepting the choices we make. Those choices, however, seemed to define me as someone who had an adventuresome spirit, but lacked the courageous heart to back it up.

So, to correct this, I took my first leap and auditioned for a role (I didn't get it). I had to drive 2 hours to the audition and wait in a huge line. I was terrified the whole time and mostly considered backing out. The traffice jam on the way there was no fun either. My car almost over heated several times. But, I did it.

And I realized something about the "adventurous" people. They get the courage and motivation from the realization that comes afterwards. It's like a rush, a high when you see that you can accomplish something that is beyond your scope, beyond your level of comfort, and beyond what you are capable of. I'll explain.

So, last night was the official onset of the college football season in my house. There were four very loud and boisterous men in my living room, who were either shouting obsenities or cheering. Needless to say, the call to enjoy the fall weather was much louder because of this. Usually, I'd buzz a friend and see if they wanted to get coffee, but instead, I decided I'd take drive into the mountains. I'd just go, and hopefully I'd find a nice place to stop and write or sketch or take pictures. Well, it turns out I did. Here are some of the pictures I took yesterday:




Historical Bridge

View from where I was laying



There are woods and creeks everywhere



These landscapes are everywhere, so are the long, countryside fences.

However, in the midst of my personal mountain retreat, a friend of mine invited me to join her at a local festival. She said her mother was helping out and that she had to go. So I contemplated it for a moment... and then said yes.

It was at least an hour from where I was, and I didn't really have any money anyway. But I said yes. That little word created the evening as follows.

I went to this festival, it turned out her mother was not helping out, but on some sort of council that afforded us some extras. When I got there, I was immediately swooped up in their golf cart, where we road to the annual doggy parade. This was simply too cute for words. From there, my friend (L) and I went to look at the vendors. There were not many but it was still fun to walk and listen to the live band.

L's phone rang, and how she heard it through all the noise still baffles me. It was her mom, she had ride tickets that she was not going to use. So, we scurried over to her mother to collect these tickets. We were both wondering how many tickets there would be, when her mother produced two singular tickets. Apparently, these tickets would get us each wristband to ride as much as we wanted. Oh, the joy.

Our first ride looked something like this:

And that's where the life experiences started to kick in. If you carefully notice in this picture, there are white bars that look like wagon wheel spokes coming out from the center. Well, midway though the ride, one of these started to quite obviously shake loose. So, because I was stupid enough to watch Final Destination, I was picturing all the horrible ways this could go wrong. However, it did not. I told the man operating the ride about it, and he thanked me, quite enthusiastically. The ride didn't run for another 30 minutes.

From there, L got some fresh squeezed strawberry lemonade, which was free because the vendor couldn't make change for a $20. Then, we got some tasty street vendor food (mexican). I tried grilled cactus for the first time.

And then... I did something that was certainly not in my realm of comfort. Meet my foe:

The electric bull. Yes. I had never ridden one before. There was a whole throng of onlookers. They laughed loudly at everyone as they fell off, which didn't take but a few seconds to do. All the while, I'm trying to convince myself that I have the nerve to do this... ya know, to willingly absolutely humiliate myself.

The little girl in front of me was trying to put it off. We giggled a little together. "If you can do it, I can do it," I told her as she made her way up to the beast. And when it was finally my turn, people were already waiting to see which way I would meet my end. But, there's one thing I forgot to mention, I am strong. I used to ride horse when I was a little girl, and learned how to move with a bucking horse or beast. I was doing so well (according to the crowd who had started to cheer for me) that they suggested I only hold on with one hand. Uh, no. I was brave, but not stupid.

So, I eventually let go... it was going to come soon anyway, so I figured, I'd just end it in the best way possible, and I casually let myself fall off the bull into a blown up cactus.

So, I have pictures to prove, "Yeah, I did it."

I have the feeling inside me that tells me I am capable of more than I think I am.

I have a whole experience that would have be lost if I'd said no.

And...

I am also very sore.

Follow Friday

Almost immediately after I finished my #FF last week, I thought of a blog that I'd read and connected with by Erica Lucke Dean . It was lighthearted and well written. It was also something I connected to... in so many ways. Thinking about the "eye rolling" immediately elicits a laughing "I know, right?" response from me. Plus, this blog she wrote had an intelligent and clever title: This is All Your Fault Gloria Steinman . #FF @ericaluckedean

@dbowenauthor A few weeks ago, I posted a tweet of desperation clearly stating my desire to quite possibly burn my book. This guy replied to my tweet, then we started DMing. Since then, we've been emailing me. He has been my personal source for all my writer questions. He handles them smoothly and with tact, something I certainly lack. So, when I am confronted with someone who can handle my abrasiveness I am forced to give mad props.

@Safireblade This crazy lady did line crits for me. And she's good at finding the places that need smoothing over.... keep tabs on her.  (Website: http://www.safireblade.com/)

@CiaraBallintyne I can't really explain this one. Her bio is impressive... kind of one of those people who are so impressive you are almost driven to jealousy. But, then when you talk to her, you realize how wonderful she is and then you can't be jealous because she's just too fantastic.... she just got her website off the ground... you can find it here: http://ciaraballintyne.com/