July is the month when we here in the United States celebrate our independence. Over the few centuries we have been a nation, our remembrances of this occasion is not so much about the long and bloody war that took place, as it is of the joy we all share as we partake in the July 4^th festivities and celebrations as they have evolved into being.  It is one of my most favorite holidays where one wants a bright sunny day of parades, grilled meats, potato salad, chips and sodas, and yes, a beer or two - (regardless of the health concerns therein!) – all topped off by spectacular display of fireworks in the summer evening.

We don’t typically sit around and discuss the ramifications of key strategic battles that were a hairsbreadth away from a win or a loss, nor do we recall histories harsh winters at Valley Forge.  Instead we revel in pure American pride and, with it, a strong sense of oneness and community with our neighbors and our friends and families.  This holiday outshines all others, as it is something the vast majority of our populous heartily celebrates with gusto and enjoyment.

It is however, all about “Independence Day”, and I thought I might share a few thoughts about the energy of independence for our own individual lives and the collective lives we lead as members of business and commerce institutions.

A Personal Independence Day

One of the more recent prevailing concepts that has been surfacing of late, and which extends from ancient debate, is the concept of free will versus subjugation to the will of another.  From the will of the Greek gods, to allegories of the Arabian Nights, Socrates to Chomsky, The Bible to the Internet, we are experiencing a rebirth of a desire to really understand the concepts of personal freedom and the collective arrangements around independence in a social setting.

You have no doubt heard he phrase, “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”.  For in the case of independence, philosophers and Supreme Court Justices have always wrestled with where one can draw the line between personal autonomy and the interference into or, imposition upon, of ones will over another’s.

This is especially more lugubrious a subject when one considers social needs and the assisting of other humans, especially when those individuals are not perceived as being in the same position or ability to be controlling their independence in terms of accepted levels of “responsibly”, versus say, the levels of some other groups.  Consider the poor, the infirm, the youth, the elderly or any other less fortunate or less “capable” group.

Many of us in the U.S. are now dealing with elder family members who are less self sufficient than they once were.  As a nation of citizens steeped in the great Manifest Destiny march across America as part of our collective mindset, our great American West go-it-alone sense of independence – it means as we age we come face to face with the reality that other more anciently established cultures, ones that espoused a reliance on close-nit families and communities, may have had a different take on “independence” that might be more appropriate.  But as a balance to all things, America would not be America without its own brand and dominance of posture about Independence.

Even as I write, our government and thought leaders now consider once again if a society has more of an obligation to care for its citizenry over their own failures at self-care, or even their own desires to be independent in matters of health and welfare.

For those in the helping and healing businesses and professions, it is actually also a matter of the heart.  One who is a healer, does not like to perceive the suffering and the seemingly correctible mishaps that might befall those groups in question…or any group or individual for that matter.

It is not simply a mental construct of duty and responsibility that is considered.  It is, with the increase of our society’s emotional intelligence quotient, truly felt as a shared pain.  As a world populace, connected over the last half century through television, and now via Internet technology, we are truly developing a unified viewpoint on what makes us human – emphatically (and empathically) so!  Think of the advances we have made in our on generation in terms of racism, compassion and empathy regarding others and their perceptual differences.  What once was seen as a great divide is now no more than an “experiential” click away.

And in perceiving the pain and suffering of another, why would we not do all in our power to alleviate and correct it?  Heal it and make it better, much as a parent wants for their own child?

This is the crux of the heart of independence.

Do I act according to my own sense of Independence, or act in regards to another’s dependence?

I think we are beginning to grasp, as a collective, be it in business or in government, and as individuals, that just because we have the power to do a thing, it does not mean we should exercise that power.  The line made famous in the DC comic tale of Spiderman, in which the protagonist’s uncle tells him, “With great power comes great responsibility”, is appropriate to consider.  It is no doubt a line stolen from the political speeches of own world history’s struggles to define its freedoms, and if it is not, it easily could be.

Independence, in the purest sense, is about true sovereignty of self possession, the holding of personal power in total, not subject to duty or obligation of any form - but simply the will of the individual person exercised without prejudice.  That is without any pre-judgment. 

If we act in judgment as to what is “better or worse” with regards to the healing or helping of another, without having them fully chose and participate in that action, we are not honoring their independence or our own.  We ourselves are not independent when we act out of a duty or obligation, or – and I know this is not easy to hear – when our heart bleeds at the sight of another’s pain.

It is important to carefully consider if that pain is something the other person is perceptually experiencing as part of their own journey toward manifesting their highest good and the highest good for all those around them. If your own pain of perceiving causes you to rush in, you may be doing more harm than good.  For those who are able to ask, personal sovereignty and independence requires that person to fully request your help or involvement first.

And in the case of those who we have deemed “unable to ask”, try your best to get “past” your own perceptual layers…

The Perceptual Cake

It is also, as always, important to consider how your own experience and bias can color your perceptions.  I was speaking to someone who shared that they can become overly concerned about their lover’s social activities when not in their presence.  This was clearly a fear based perception about trusting.  Or was it?  The cause of concern seemed to be the lover’s responsibility to act in faithfulness to this person…but underlying that perception was the deeper concept held by the speaker…a belief that they did not hold enough of an interest to the lover to create a bond of fidelity.  So the trust issue seems to be more of a self-worth issue.  And yet, deeper still, is the belief that one has the power to cause another to be singularly faithful to them.   And so, what is the more relevant perceptual layer…?

Taking one’s power back, one’s freedom, the power of true personal independence, requires learning how to see through all the layers of perceptions.  For this person, being in a place of power might mean allowing all others: passers-by, associates, friends, family and even lovers, to live and love as they deem fit - so that this person can do the same in their own life.  That is, being in their own personal power and freedom from fear, obligation and or duty, that is: freedom from their own "not-independent" beliefs about the “right” way to be in a relationship.

If I am suggesting a new way of perceiving…than, as this new way of being is practiced, and as ones “new perception about perception” grows, it might be that this new way has the ability to remove more and more of the confusing perceptual layers we are so used to perceiving. 

And so, perhaps, eventually, we will see what is the really real…

The Rainbow Serpent

Which brings me to my related topic about personal transformation and the mystical journey it really can entail.  It is a mystery because, as that example shows, we really are at a loss most of the time in understanding just how many layers there are to our own perceptual cakes.  All the things we “try” to give others responsibility for, are in truth, of our own domain.  If we can hold the idea that "it's not about them" as our compass, we may be able to stay on the path to getting more clear about how we can be fully in charge of our own Independance…

After all, the truly free and independent lover is not responsible for being a caretaker of another’s love, or the governor of how the other defines that love.  The lover is only responsible for loving, and for my view on it, loving with the goal of attaining the highest good for all involved.  (Which is easier laid out as an intention, rather than practically measured in our 3D world...)

This has been spoken of by the shaman and the ancient peoples throughout the ages as well.  The Toltec’s speak of Quetzalcoatl the serpent and how one who seeks enlightenment must be willing to journey on the path symbolized by the image of the serpent swallowing its own tail.   The image of the serpent is also used as the symbol for true healing (as in the form of our own modern day physician’s caduceus image of the two snakes entwined around a staff). 

Our post-modern-day-Judean-Christian view of the serpent does not necessarily hold the serpent as such a sacred image symbolizing self-healing and enlightment, yet for my own two cents here, I will share that the path to independence is just that: I N D E P E N D E N T.

The serpent is in the highest spiritual sense, a rainbow serpent.  All paths can lead you to where you want to be.  And they are all as beautiful as a rainbow, if you take on your own power fully to take the journey and walk the path.

Blessings and peace to each of you on the journey to personal independence, for it is there that we will each meet and craft the ways of commerce and business that we collectively desire.

Espavo. Be well. Be in Light Work. 

Mike Hayden is here to assist individuals, business and corporations master the shift to the new earth energies.  To contact him for speaking events, personal coaching or business process improvement, or to email comments and responses: bizlight@mikehayden.net.