Independence

(July's 5 minute writing prompt)

Independence, what a thing to contemplate after being so fiercely just that for the first 50 years of my life, defying expectations of authoritarian and misogynistic culture and dogma of Southern home, church, schools, and making my way in this world... a way to freedom, to finding my voice and using it to help others find and own theirs. All the hard work only to be thrown into dependence again with the onset of a debilitating disease that robbed me of mobility, robbed me of a career I loved, of so many joys of being in nature, being alone. It’s a thief that leaves in its destructive wake, opportunity, opportunity to learn what I’m truly made of, opportunity to choose peace, opportunity to meet myself sans any masks, costumes, or facades. Sometimes the emptiness of a thief’s raid is the gift we need to curate the self. No matter the state of things, we can choose. Independence of mind is ours, is mine. I claim peace. I claim my mind, my true self. I am free.

Photo by William Phipps on Unsplash