Independence

We all make resolutions on New Year's Day, and we give thanks on Thanksgiving. We remember the dead on Memorial Day (or we're supposed to), and we celebrate giving during the winter holidays. I think we're ready to start a new tradition - Independence Day Declarations.

That's right. We need to make a list of all the things we've become independent from - which, by the way, means whatever we've gained freedom from, not things we've decided not to depend on. (That would be non-dependence, something based in pride and arrogance and pain, which is a sucky way to live.) I even propose that we don't stop with what we've already done, but declare things we're going to do in the next year, too! After all, the Founding Fathers declared Independence before they actually fought and won it!

I'll start.

1. I declare myself shed of the tyranny of the circumstances of my life - it's all about attitude!
2. I declare independence from slick advertising, from the Joneses, from the life the media and all the lies around us say we should have.

3. I declare myself free of the bondage of credit cards and payday loans, and from "high-end" anything (that I don't find at 80% off).

4. I declare myself emancipated from the clutter that stifles, from the laziness that prevents home-care, and from hanging onto bad choices from the past (the ones that won't let us move forward!).

If we could find half the cajones that our forefathers had, and tear ourselves away from "conventional," from "expected," and from "the new American Way," we could be free.

Because true freedom - to be ourselves - is worth any price.