Mobility

Mobility is a huge freedom, and there are so many layers and aspects of it we can zoom into and examine why it means freedom. Baby Oscar at barely two months old already got his passport, and flew on a plane and back. Oliver almost got to take a long haul flight to Switzerland before he turned two, but missed that opportunity because his ah-yi (yours truly) was too lazy to travel so far with the mother-and-son duo. He had already travelled to quite many Asia countries by then.

We are really really fortunate, and we really appreciate this mobility we enjoy. My sis used to teach children with disabilities to swim, so she understands freedom or the lack thereof from the physical perspective. Babybro worked with the underprivileged / people beneath the safety net, so he understands the lack of mobility from the social-economical perspective. I worked with refugees and undocumented people, so my perspective takes the angle of institutional barriers. Yet all these are very intricately interwoven that it is just too presumptuous to put into any pigeonholes the way I have plucked them in the above.

Our conversations thus normally swing between the two poles of serious heavy discussions and air-headed light-hearted jokes. I guess at some point, some (or all) of us struggled with the guilt from the privileges we are enjoying. We were talking about this just a couple of weeks ago, and I guess I have evolved to a position where I see that Universe wants to shower us with abundance, and we should not take a scarcity mindset on this. Us referring to all of us in the world, in whichever circumstances we are in, the variance being we each planned a different life on this earth so that we can learn different lessons. Scarcity mindset (in my very superficial explanation) is a mindset that if we enjoy what we have, we are depriving others. That is the frequency of the Guilt we are/were feeling. However, if we take it from a different level – let’s just say Gratitude (starts with G too!) – it brings the exchange to a higher frequency and that, at an esoteric level, is raising the vibration of the world. Whilst, taking it on a more grounded earthly viewpoint, Gratitude infers that we appreciate that we enjoy these privileges, and any “extras” can be given away. This “giving away” shall also be from a high-frequency perspective of “I give because I can afford to and I want to”, rather than from the low-frequency of obligation or guilt.

Intent is really important. Even though the act may be the same. Giving from a frequency of guilt or obligation is condescending (IMHO). Giving from the heart is always good compassion in all ways, but after realising this point on condescendence, I am careful with how I give. For example, I used to sit down with the students in our fields and just listen to their stories. Initially it was because I felt really bad for them, and wanted to be a source of support so they have an outlet. After a while, I saw that there is so much more strength in them than I could possibly have, so who am I to feel bad for them? I repositioned myself after that and sat down with them as a friend who enjoyed their company and our conversations, and it really felt more empowering for them, than viewing them as victims of conflicts.

Urghz. Super side-tracked. Not sure how I even got to that. I started with wanting to write about the extreme polarities of our freedom to travel versus the undocumented people who could not even move beyond their camps (both figurative and literal). And the sad misfortune of a student who finally got his UN IDCard, and then a Passport, but died in a very unfortunate incident. He was so happy when he showed me his passport (or “passport”, I don’t know). In Thetahealing, the train of thought is that we plotted many “death doors” before our birth, which are like highway exits where we can leave when the going gets too tough. On this basis, maybe when one’s whole life is just eyeing a piece of paper symbolising freedom, once the paper is in his hands, the rest of the journey just suddenly appears empty, and thus he chose the next nearest exit?