This is nothing to do with cognitive liberty in an academic sense, but has everything to do with it in a personal one. I, like so many other people, have found myself following a path that leads in a direction very far from where I want to go, and I am seemingly helpless to do anything to change that. Such is the state of the modern world in which we live: despite our desires and talents, we find ourselves in roles that serve the need of a greater society. My passion is music, yet I am in IT. Another may love art, but is forced to sell insurance--not because of any desire, but out of sheer need to survive and provide for oneself.

But this is the interesting part. Most of what we spend our money on goes so far beyond need it is almost laughable when you stop and think about it. Sure, it may be nice to have a very solidly built, airtight home that let's no bugs or rain in and has all the modern conveniences, but the fact is that the majority of people in the world do not have this, and they get by. In terms of happiness, they are often higher than those of us in the richer countries of the world. Rather than things and conveniences, they have family, friends, and community.

Why write an open journal? To be honest, it remains to be seen whether this is a good idea. However, it's the start of something, whatever that turns out to be. I currently find myself standing at a crossroads. Unlike many people, my wife and I have managed to set aside enough to possibly live off of for the rest of our lives, if we are incredibly frugal. I'm talking live-off-the-land frugal. If we wish to travel, we could take temporary part time jobs. Same thing, if there's a major repair needing to be done. We could grow our own vegetables, possibly keep some animals, and live a quiet life at home with library books delivered directly to our e-readers. I could possibly work remotely, so long as we have decent Internet.

So why don't we do this? Well, that's an interesting question to ask, and not one that provides easy answers. Part of it is fear--of the unknown, of prematurely ending a promising IT career, of living in a way that is not very sell supported in today's world. Thoughts like "will I be able to find a job that pays me what I get paid now?", "What happens if one of us becomes very sick or disabled?", or "How will we be able to live on so little?" come up like predictable little sneering gremlins anytime we begin thinking of making a change like this. In the end, the feeling is that yes this is a step we want to take, but not yet. Now is never the right time. We always need to do more planning, we need more money set aside, we need a better idea of how this will work.

In truth, 10 years ago, I was not working in a career and wasn't thinking at all about old age or retirement. I was 26, had completed school just a few years before, and my whole future was ahead of me. How much can change in only 10 short years! Now, rather than seeing my best years ahead of me, I feel my body (and mind) going into a slow decline, I am no further to achieving any of my dreams. At that time a career seemed like the thing to do. Now it seems more of "a" thing to do, maybe. Only if it gets you where you want to go and you can enjoy the time you spend doing it.

Other reasons we don't take the plunge? Differences of opinion or overall goals abound. My wife wants to insulate us from the rest of the world. So long as she has me and the pets she is happy, whereas I definitely enjoy the company of friends, people who I can bounce ideas back and forth with, talk about the state of things, basically just BS with over a pitcher at the bar. This is seemingly something she can do completely without, but I miss being able to call up a friend and just hangout for the evening. Unfortunately, even if I put myself in a position to be able to do this, most of my friends are still in the working world, have families and responsibilities, and wouldn't be able to get together on short notice.

Why the name of this blog? I love the concept, but am not so researched or qualified to write about the actual topic. Instead, why not chronicle my quest to actually break myself free from the mental shackles placed upon me at birth? Why not share (for the one or two folks who may actually wish to read it) this ongoing unfolding process to discover (or perhaps create) that state in which I actually want to exist, not the default way in which I currently find myself existing?

During the course of this, I may in fact touch upon things which affect the liberty of our minds, and direct our cognition in particular ways, or at least stymie it in a general sense. As this experiment continues, I'll be exploring ways to free my mind from these artificial limitations, and come to some (hopefully) well-reasoned decisions about the all-too-limited future. If you care to tag along, then welcome, and please don't forget to tip your waiters and waitresses.