One way to freedom

“Have you just moved?” – I get this question a lot. I’ve been living in this place for more than a year now. Thing is, I only have what I consider to be essential and that excludes a TV and any decoration paraphernalia. It includes Ratatouille though – he used to be my nephews’ hamster (it’s a long story, let’s not go there). The reason is quite simple: in order to feel free – which, in my case, is translated by the possibility of moving wherever and whenever I feel like -, I need to be portable. The other day, a friend told me I should watch the movie “Up in the Air”. It’s a lot about the baggage you want to carry with you along your life path. Well, sometimes, it’s not about conscious choices, there are choices that come along and you simply go (very happily) with it.

Of course I’m happy to have a huge baggage of people –because they don’t actually weight anything. I can’t take everybody with me but I can visit the people I’m lucky to meet. I make choices, some easier than others. As for objects, there aren’t, as far as I’m concerned, difficult choices. I don’t really need much. Or if I do, I try not to so hard that I believe I don’t. If I would, that would mean carrying a truck instead of a bag – I can literally pack my belongings in a bag. And this is possibly the most freeing feeling I can experience: the knowledge that I’m free to choose to move even if, in fact, my choice is to stay.

Text and Image by Luisa Santos