Given the name of my website, it’s appropriate that I introduce the concept of freedom of thought.
Per Wikipedia, “Freedom of thought (also called freedom of conscience or ideas) is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others’ viewpoints.”
Love it. Benjamin Franklin loves it.
Without Freedom of Thought, there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such Thing as publick Liberty, without Freedom of Speech.
Benjamin Franklin
In many ways, our Founding Fathers got it right. They were the thought leaders of their time. They introduced novel concepts about happiness and equality and human rights. Yes, they may have left out over half of the country’s population in those rights (details we’re still working on), but what they did do they did well.
Two years after writing the Constitution, the first 10 amendments were added; perhaps better known as the Bill of Rights. In the very First Amendment, Congress chose to protect the people’s right to freedom of religion, speech, and the press; rights of assembly and petition.
The very First Amendment. That speaks to how highly individual rights were valued. Each of these rights (freedom of religion, speech, and the press) stems from the idea of freedom of thought, and freedom to express that thought.
Fast forward 232 years. How are we doing? How are we living up to those founding ideals?
It’s a Free Country
I can very clearly remember the first time another child taunted me with the good old retort of, “It’s a free country.” Surely I had been strongly advising said child on the proper way to do something (I may have been a bit bossy when I was younger…) and the comment was likely warranted.
Nevertheless, even at that age (I was probably 5 or so at the time), I thought a lot. I questioned everything. If my parents didn’t provide me with what I deemed a good enough answer, I found my own. I kept searching until I found something that made sense. Not much ever made total sense. Not much has changed.
So there I was, 5 years old in my backyard with another sassy child taunting at me, “It’s a free country.” The wheels in my brain started turning. I can remember staring at her, wondering what she could ever mean by that.
It wasn’t a free country. I had to do what adults told me to, I had to go to school and do homework. I couldn’t have anything I wanted. I had to be nice to the other kids, even if I didn’t want to be. My whole life I had been told how to act and what to think. How to behave in a way that met others’ expectations, that pleased others. That wasn’t freedom.
What in the world was she talking about?
I have since learned that she was referring to the fact that our country was founded on the ideals of freedom. We have it a lot better than a lot of people. Got it. I still maintain my own definition of freedom.
To me, freedom is the ability to think, speak, and act without resistance.
I chose “resistance” as opposed to “restraint” because restraint often implies something external. I want resistance to apply to both internal and external forces. Usually, the resistance comes from inside our own heads.
Where Do Thoughts Come From
Have you ever asked yourself why you believe something or behave the way you do? Do you even care? Maybe it’s working for you and you’re happy with your life and there’s no need for change. Maybe not. There are likely a few things you’d like to change about yourself or your life, right?
I’d like to suggest a place to start: your thoughts. We’ve already talked a few times about the importance of our thoughts and how they lay the foundation for everything from feelings to the world around us.
Do you know what you’re thinking? Do you know why you’re thinking what you’re thinking? Do you believe you have a choice in the matter?
If you’re human, you have over 60,000 thoughts every day. According to today’s scientists, only about 5% of thoughts are conscious. That’s 3,000 thoughts. Out of 60,000. What about the remaining 57,000? Where do they come from? They still drive our actions and create results in our lives.
There are a few concepts I want to explore when it comes to freedom of thought.
As I see it, thoughts can be one of two things: Borrowed or Original. They are either your original, inspired thoughts, or they’re building blocks that came from somewhere else.
I’ll point out that I often use the words “thoughts” and “beliefs” interchangeably. I define a “belief” as a thought that’s been thought so many times it feels like the truth. We kind of forget that beliefs are still thoughts. Most of us don’t realize that we’ve borrowed most of our thoughts.
1. Borrowed Subconscious Beliefs
Borrowed subconscious beliefs are beliefs that have been incorporated into the fabric and structure of our personalities that we aren’t consciously aware of. They are biases we’ve formed from our own memories and experiences and usually come from our genes, culture, and the people we are closest to. We often accept them as fact (they’re not). It’s easy to identify with these beliefs, and many think that they are what make us “who we are,” which can be dangerous.
But they’re still thoughts. These thoughts are borrowed from other people.
2. Borrowed Conscious Beliefs
In a similar sense, we have borrowed beliefs that are conscious that we think about and acknowledge. I’ve learned a lot from other people. I have deliberately decided to believe many things, on purpose. I run them through my own intuition filter for a sanity check before taking them on, but they’re still borrowed.
I borrowed these beliefs from the teachers who have come before me. Borrowed beliefs are the building blocks of forward progress.
3. Original Thought
Here’s where our own creative powers come into play. Creative, inspired, original thought. I can feel when I’m experiencing an original thought because it travels through my whole body; it often seems to come out of nowhere and just pops into my brain. It feels like my whole body is in on it. I’ve heard it described as an instantaneous download. Everyone receives inspiration in their own way.
Inspired thoughts originate from Source, and always serve us.
With this, I’d like to offer an expanded definition of freedom of thought, which has nothing to do with other people and the world around us.
Freedom of Thought occurs when every borrowed thought is made in awareness and every inspired thought is allowed, without resistance, at all levels of consciousness.
When our borrowed thoughts serve us; not the other way around.
Are My Thoughts Free?
I’m at the point where I am awake to the fact that my thoughts are not all free. I know I have borrowed thoughts that I’m not aware of (and probably don’t want to keep), and I know I’m resisting inspired ones. Good first step. Where do I go from here?
Like that 5-year-old, whenever I’m not sure, I figure it out! Let’s explore some of the ways that our thoughts might not be free. I like to think of this as our programming. What are some of the ways that our brains are programmed; without, perhaps, our conscious awareness?
Our DNA. This is the “nature” side of the “nature-nurture” conversation. Humans have evolved, together and as individuals, with pre-programmed dispositions. We evolved for survival. My husband hates snakes. I hate spiders. This fear was built into our dna from generations of ancestors who learned to fear snakes and spiders so they didn’t die from poisonous snake and spider bites.
Our Surroundings. We are influenced, from the day we are born, by the world around us. We start molding to the world we are born to, as a matter of survival, from the first breath we take. This includes the people, ideas, and world around us.
Our Own Minds. One recent personal discovery is that my brain loves thought loops. I have a thought, that thought generates a feeling, which generates another thought, which generates another feeling. Round and round we go, burning brain power and going nowhere. Just like revving an engine in neutral. Pointless. Until we learn how to manage our thoughts, we’ll continue to fall victim to them.
Start With Becoming Aware
I get overwhelmed just writing about this subject because there’s so much there. So much research I want to do, so many angles I want to take, so much information out there.
Today, I will focus in on the first step: Becoming Aware.
The first step to freedom is inside your own head.
You have thoughts. About 5% are conscious and the rest are not. That doesn’t mean the remaining 95% are inaccessible, it just means you don’t think about them every day so they’re harder to notice.
How do I start becoming aware of my own thoughts, conscious and subconscious?
I recommend starting really small. Pick something you’ve always done – a thought, belief, action, or behavior – that you don’t really think about. I’ve provided a few questions below that have helped me get to the bottom of a thought or belief. I’ll use a simple example so you can see how it works.
Action: I brush my teeth twice a day
Why do I take this action? It keeps my teeth clean
What is the belief behind the action? I have to brush my teeth twice per day to keep them clean.
Was this belief borrowed or inspired? Borrowed
If borrowed, where did I get it? My parents, and later my dentist
If borrowed, why did I choose to take it on as my own? Initially, because my parents told me I had to; later, because I care about my oral health
Is it serving me now? Yes
Do I want to keep it? Yes
That’s a simple exercise you can do to start becoming aware of your thoughts and beliefs. In the beginning, just start with one per day then add more as you’re comfortable.
Slowly, with time, you’ll start to gain awareness of your thoughts and beliefs. You can start to sift through them to see what you’d like to keep and what you’d like to let go of.
Waking up to the fact that you’ve borrowed a lot of your thoughts, that they aren’t all conscious, and that you can change them is a pretty big step. A big step towards freedom.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
Lao Tzu