March Topic: Beyond the Fight | Redefining Freedom for Women Today

It's Women's Month, and as women, we have a lot to celebrate, including the many freedoms we have fought for: the ability to compete, to teach, to vote, to care, to invent, to explore, to run a business, to own a home, to dream, to be heard, to fight, and much more. I am grateful to my ancestors who created these possibilities, but there is still more for us to fight for.

While reflecting on these great freedoms and the struggles that went into achieving them, a question arose: What does "freedom" really mean? Have we been fighting for control while not truly being free? Have we been struggling to manage our lives based on how the world functions? Have we genuinely been given true freedom?

I've had discussions with friends about these issues. We fought to work, which isn't inherently bad, but work in this world can be burdensome with little to show for it outside of internal fulfillment. We spend time and money to earn degrees, find jobs, and often don’t make enough to live comfortably, or if we do, the job drains our energy. Many jobs lack basic comforts—I've worked in places where you eat at your desk because there are no break rooms or nearby public spaces. Benefits like pensions and job loyalty seem to have disappeared. As a Black woman, I've seen my ancestors, colleagues, and friends, including myself, fight for a seat at the table. We are sometimes included but are often overlooked or given a seat merely as a performance. So, what does true freedom look like, and how do we attain it?

I have experienced a few blissful moments of true freedom in my life. Those moments came when I followed what was on my heart rather than adhering to the world's idea of what I should be doing. Those moments came when I didn't have a set plan and wasn't trying to control the narrative or my future. The Universe kicked in and provided the path. Freedom looked like:

• That nudge to write and create led me to become a fashion blogger, filled with fashionable adventures and new friendships.

• Realizing I could teach and share my knowledge with others after taking classes at a public adult education center eventually allowed me to start a styling business that I loved.

• Following my childhood dream of working in fashion, and deciding it's now or never, I pitched an internship with a local designer, which led to a portfolio and a one-way ticket to New York, where I grew immensely and learned to navigate the world on my own.

• Letting go of traditional work-life balance rules led to my husband and I moving to the countryside, where we've become bird watchers (a surprise I never saw coming) and enjoy everything nature provides.

• When the pandemic hit, a brief conversation about picking up a forgotten hobby transformed into Daily Ritual Boutique and this very community.

In each of these instances, I found a sense of freedom by following my passion instead of conforming to societal expectations. I found a sense of freedom by working with the Universe, letting her take over to show me the path.

As I’ve reflected on what freedom truly is, I’ve come to realize that it’s not about controlling outcomes, but about surrendering to the flow of the Universe. Numerology offers a fascinating perspective on this. Yes, I’m getting a bit "woo-woo" on you, but if you’ve been around, you know this is what I'm all about—the universe (spirit or higher power) is a force we often don’t tap into or reach out to. Numerology is one way to experience our connection with this energy/power. So here it is:

As Teledipity beautifully puts it, we often mistake freedom for control. But true freedom means surrendering to the unexpected.

Sometimes we think that "FREEDOM" is about learning to command the cockpit of the universe.

Receiving ONLY the expected. Manifesting ONLY the desired. Assuring that no event veers off the path we decide on. Becoming the GOD of our own personal universe.

Do we want freedom? Or do we want control? Because they are two different things.

CONTROL is subjugating the universe – finding “the secret” that will allow us to force it to meet our expectations.

FREEDOM is trusting the universe – cultivating a joyful spirit that refuses to be subjugated by the mind’s fleeting desires.

Yes – you are a free being. Free to want. Free to dream. Free to anticipate. Free to have standards, expectations and deal-breakers.

Free to desire and pray for change.

There is such a thing as MANIFESTING, but that process is a collaboration between you and the universe.

That means that you pick the destination and the universe calculates the route.

A life where you can control every part of the journey is one where serendipity cannot exist. Where nothing can go off-script. Where “the unexpected” cannot push you into SOMETHING BETTER than your imagination could ever dream up.

Do you want freedom? Or do you want control?

Because if you want freedom, you can’t write every page of your screenplay or cast every role.

You can’t command the timeline, the means and the players.

Freedom is flexibility. Freedom is finding beauty beneath the unpleasant. Freedom is doing the best you can when the outcome falls outside of what you wanted.

From the perspective of the limited human mind, it is inevitable that some of what you'll receive will not seem fair.

From the perspective of the soul in the physical body, the higher spiritual laws remain.

Freedom is faith in those laws.

Freedom is unconditional gratitude for their infallibility.

Freedom is indifference to the process.

Freedom is never allowing the mind to fester in anger while it has not received the things it wants.

Don’t let desire dominate your thoughts.

Don’t let the wanted future pollute your mindset.

Don’t let the process destroy your gratitude.

Freedom is surrender, for you know.

Your mind may not understand it, but you know.

Your soul knows.

It is never in doubt.

Every second is co-created.

Every obstacle has a design.

Every event is approved.

Approved by the universe, and approved by you.

How can that which is designed by two perfect entities with nothing but the best intentions be questioned?

Approved does not mean you should like it (or even tolerate it).

Approved means you must dare to uncover its purpose.

The secret it wants you to find.

The motivation it must plant within you.

The lesson it needs you to learn.

If what you’re MANIFESTING is your mission on this earth, then the obstacles you’re facing are a part of it.

They were approved.

Approved by the universe, and approved by you.

What does true freedom mean to you? In honor of Women's Month, what is one thing you can release today to invite more freedom into your life? Share in the comments below! If you loved this perspective on freedom from Teledipity and want to learn more about numerology you can visit Teledipity HERE