Blog

Be Free: Just Be Free

Circa 2017 I was participating in a program called Wake Up Warrior which was designed for entrepreneur men seeking a better, more balanced life.  There were a ton of daily events and exercises we did throughout the program. However, one of the most impactful events we did was connecting with our 7-year-old self. You know, when things weren’t stressful outside of picking what snack we wanted to eat.

In order to connect with our 7-year-old self we needed to do a few things:

1. Go outside in nature.

2. Take our 7-year-old self a gift. This gift was something we liked to do at that age. For me, I took little Ryan and baseball as that was my love back then.

3. Sit in silence and mediate, not forcing anything and simply sit in silence until we received a message.

Sounds easy enough, right?

So off I went with Jess one afternoon as we cruised over to the Pacific Coast Trail which had an easy outlet by where I used to live California. We took our time and hiked probably a mile in until I found a perfect spot where I felt comfortable enough to sit and relax.

I went off on my own and Jess hung out and took pictures of the beautiful scenery.

At this point I simply sat on the ground, closed my eyes, slowed down my breathing, and focused on being in the moment. If you know my mind, this can be hard to do.

I sat there for several minutes, alone and silent waiting for my big reveal… and nothing.

A few more minutes went by, nothing.

One of the tenents of the program was daily mediation, so I knew from months of doing this every day that sometimes the answers you seek take time.

And just as I started getting uncomfortable from sitting on the ground a simple voice came into my head.

5 simple words.

“Be Free. Just Be Free”

It was so profound that as soon as I got home, I grabbed a scrap piece of paper and wrote it down and put it in my wallet to carry with me everywhere I go. To this day, almost 7 years later, I still have it in there.

Being even more committed to being free like my 7-year-old self, I added it to a tattoo I have on my left forearm to serve as a constant reminder.

But what does “Be Free. Just Be Free” really mean to me.

Being free in life and more than just the lifestyle of living as a nudist. Don’t get me wrong, being is a nudist is one of the MOST truly freeing things a person can do and something I will never quit doing!

However, being free of the worries about people’s judgment against me, my thoughts, my sexuality, and my way of life.

Free from chasing the carrot of what society says is a good man, or perfect husband, and father.

Freedom from pursing all the materialistic things that says I am “successful” in life.

Be free from all my self-driven doubts, shame, embarrassment, past mistakes, and addiction to alcohol, mainly a lot of my perceived imperfections. Check out the previous blog on “Embrace your Imperfections”.

Just simply being free mentally, and physically from stress that doesn’t serve my purpose…and this is something that I still struggle with.

Being free from feeling like I have to please everyone, do everything for everyone, and go to every event that I am invited to; ultimately, the freedom to simply say “no”.

How has my life changed since this simple mediation exercise:

I still struggle with some of these things, after all I am 47 and have been the way I am for a long time; however, my life has been so much better after letting go.

Looking down at my arm serves as a constant reminder that I don’t owe anyone, anything. I owe it to myself to live my best life.

When I do that, then those around me flourish, and hopefully become inspired to live their best life.

So my question to you is simple:

What will YOU start to do to “Be Free. Just Be Free”?

Close your eyes, slow your breathing down, and visualize what things can you do to set your soul, mind, and spirit and free.

What does it look like?

Drop a comment below and let me know what personal freedoms YOU WILL WORK ON.

You won’t start over night, it will take weeks, months, years of committed practice; however, jot down “Be Free” somewhere that you will see it often…and do the work.

In your corner,

Ryan

Here are some friends of everydaynudist.com being free from clothes and loving the nudist life! (shared with permission)