I imagine freedom as the ability to express myself to its full potential. I want to be able to express my love, my hate, my flaws, and my passion without being under the scrutiny of a larger institution. Freedom is about not being silenced for my thoughts and beliefs. I want the freedom to express who I am without having to pay the cost of trauma caused by an institution that does not share my belief and love in my community, and makes sure to silence me to never “speak out” again. Freedom is being free from traumas of being punished for who we are and how we express ourselves.

I believe freedom is also about breaking free from generational traumas and the pressure of having to take care of the family at the expense of our true passion (“passion doesn’t make $$”), because in reality if we don’t, then our livelihood would be fucked. Freedom is about being able to pursue whatever the fuck we want without any strings attached. Freedom is like saying, “Yeah fuck this shit. Let me do what I WANT for once,” and ditching everything to pursue just that.