Season 2: Episode 13 - Freedom

Freedom is a big topic but I just share a few thoughts related to the topic. Episodes released Tuesdays or Fridays. 

Episode Transcript

Unknown (00:05):
Hey, everyone, welcome to Share Your Sparkle. And I'm
your host, Dr. Darline Berrios.
This is season two, Episode 13.
Freedom.
Hey, everyone, I almost did likewhat buildings do and skip to
Episode 13, you know, on theelevator.
But I didn't. So here we aredecided to talk about freedom

(00:28):
because the Fourth of July justpassed and in the United States
that's, you know, the day ofindependence. I'll share some
thoughts about that in a littlebit. But first, I want to tell a
funny story, talk about what I'mwatching on Netflix,

(00:50):
share a quote and then give mythoughts on freedom. So
yesterdaywas the fourth of July. And I
really didn't do much. But Iconvinced my sister to go on a
hike with me. And we did thelong one, the long one is about
five and a half miles takesabout two hours and 20 minutes,
I would say it's like a mediumlevel hike. Like it's not. It's

(01:13):
not easy. Like it's notstraight. There are some parts,
you know, that are prettyslippery, and Rocky and some
pretty steep terrain. But it'sreally great. I love it. So we
hadn't we hadn't done it in awhile. And the temperature was
pretty perfect. It was like inthe 50s. So it was a nice, cool
summer morning to embark on ourlong hike. But last week,

(01:37):
there's a different trail that Igo on. And I was being you know,
my super cute black lab, who'sthe beast right now he's super
big. He's about seven monthsold. And I'm
like a tired dog is a good dog.
So I have to take him hiking inthe morning in the afternoon.

(01:59):
And when we went last week, it'sall black bear. So in New
England, the black bears are outand about. And
luckily, I bought a whistle likea month ago, I guess. And
it was facing the direction Iwas going in so it didn't see

(02:20):
yes. But I just booked it in theopposite direction with beam and
I started blowing my whistle andabout five minutes
after backtracking five minutes,like there's a house. So
you know, I had to cut through100 feet or so maybe a little

(02:41):
bit more like 150 feet of woods.
That's like not a path. I wasjust hoping the whole time we
wouldn't get poison ivy to getthese people's driveway so I can
cut through this neighborhoodand have like my mom pick us up.
So since then we've been supercautious on the trails and

(03:02):
my sister, I told her to bring awhistle and her backpack has
like a whistle attached to it.
And every once in a while wewould just blow the whistle You
know, I'mhoping to keep the bears away, I
guess. And she was ahead of meand her whistles attached her
backpack so I can't see whenshe's blowing it and some so she
would blow it and make it oh mygod, can you just give me a

(03:24):
warning? Because it's sometimeswhen she would blow it, it would
scare me. I'm like, Can you justtell me that you're going to
blow the whistle. And she'slike, you know, the bears have
like cameras in the woods andthey're watching us. And they're
laughing at you because eachtime I blow the whistle you get
scared.
That's really really funny. Nobears.

(03:47):
Yesterday, or since the day Isaw one. So that's good. But
that's my funny summer bearstory. And Netflix, if you're
looking for something to watch,I saw
summertime it takes place onthis coastal
beach place in Spain, a group ofyoung probably high school

(04:08):
senior like high school age,early college age students or
kids kind of coming of age andrelationships and their
connection to their family. Ithought it was good. So I
recommend summer time. Andthere's something I clicked on
it by mistake, honestly. Butit's called the Parisian agency

(04:29):
and what this is what I likedabout it, there's a family and
this is totally what I want.
It's like their their owncorporate literally it's like
these parents and their foursons. The youngest one is 16. So
it's not he's not necessarilyinvolved in the business. But
there are five episodes aboutthem working together. They're

(04:50):
in real estate like luxury realestate in Paris. And literally
they work in the parents livingroom like they talk about
board meetings are like lunches,turning into board meetings. And
if you've ever worked withpeople
that are like family, closefriends, or I don't know if you

(05:11):
work with your family, but ifyou've ever had that kind of
relationship where work is justfun, and I've had a few
scenarios with, that's the case,like one,
we're a buddy of mine hadliterally the same position, and
we would just help each otherout and just laugh every single
day. And she's listening, sheknows exactly who I'm talking

(05:32):
about. But we would laugh everysingle day, you know, and then
at a school where the teacherswere basically, you know, like
family and, and a team of minethat I was a part of, for like
nine years, like a decade, wewere just like family. And we
laughed, and we cried when weneeded to cry. And we pushed

(05:53):
each other and we took care ofeach other. And it's just such a
cool experience. So watchingthat just made me want something
like that again, you know, and,like they have their own
corporate. So I think that'sreally awesome. So summertime,
you know, beach, town and Spain.
And you know, the experience ofcoming of age and relationships.

(06:16):
Andthat's, you know, fiction, but
if you weren't looking forsomething real.
The Parisian agency suggestsboth of them.
And a quote that I want to justshare, related to freedom. It's
by Erin Hanson, I actually havethe quote on my phone. But I

(06:39):
didn't realize who it waswritten by until I looked her
up.
She's a poet, young poet, maybelike in your 20s. I think on
Instagram, she goes by Let mesee here.
Well, what is the undergroundpoet maybe? Hold on? Sorry.

(07:00):
Aaron Hansen, the poeticunderground, the poetic
underground. And the only onequote that I have I read some
other ones. But this is the onethat I'm going to read to you
today. It says,There's freedom waiting for you
on the breezes of the sky. Andyou ask, What if I fall?

(07:25):
Oh, but my darling. What if youfly? So that's my Erin Hansen,
and she has some books.
Definitely check her out and hermaterial. I don't have any of
her books. But the poems that Iread or the postings that she
has, are really interesting andpowerful. In speaking of
freedom.

(07:48):
God, I think there's so much tosay about that. It's kind of
hard. But when I think about it,I really think about how much
Yes, there has been, or thereare freedoms that we have that
we didn't have before. Butthere's so much more to go. I

(08:10):
mean, there were literallyplaces in the world where I
cannot live. Because there arecountries I think like 69
countries where, likehomosexuality is outlawed. I
mean, I remember my littlebrother asking me wants to if I
wanted to, like, you know, wetalked about traveling and
different things. And his familyis thinking about going to
Morocco. I'm like, I can't gothere. Are you kidding me? I

(08:30):
don't want to get like arrestedwhile I'm there. Like it's even
a scary thought for me to govisit some parts of the world.
And so there's a list, thecurrent list.
I think it's from like the BBChere. You know, where places are
where it's literally I wouldn'tconsider living just because I
need to be me, right? Barbados,Ethiopia, Ghana, Jamaica, Kenya.

(08:57):
So much things have changedbetween now and then melodies,
which I see here is reallybeautiful.
Obviously, depending ondifferent parts of your socially
significant identity, you'regoing to be treated differently
in some cases, like in my case,like I wouldn't even consider
living in that part of theworld. And I'll be honest, even

(09:19):
the United States, I wouldn'tconsider living in some places
just because, I mean, if you'vetraveled the United States, it's
very different in in a lot. Imean, if you go from
I don't know, let's say likeBurlington, Vermont to Miami,
you you feel like you'reliterally in a different

(09:40):
country. I've owned like I'vegrown up in New England. I know
most of the East Coast just bylike traveling up and down like
from, you know, New England toFlorida. I have lived that lived
out in California, both SouthernCalifornia. So I'm in cross
through, you know, like Texasand Arizona, not spent a lot of

(10:04):
time in those places, but enoughto at least have gone through
and visited. But like, I'venever been up to like Montana or
the Dakotas andI have visited Minnesota.
But like we live in a countrythat's so different,
depending on where you are,right? And honestly, there's
some places that I would notconsider living just because I

(10:26):
think it might still be scary.
Whether it's because ofnot just not gender or
sexuality, like in terms ofrelationships, but racially, you
know,it's, it's interesting. So while
we celebrated freedom, there'sreally a lot a lot left to kind

(10:47):
of get through in terms of like,when will we all be free in not
just in the United States, butin the world? And will we ever
be truly free? I mean, ashumans, as humans, will we ever
truly be free?
Because someone else will alwaysbe making some law, someone will

(11:09):
be dictating how you live.
Somehow, right?
Even like, when we go to buystuff in stores, like, are we
making decisions based on whatwe want? Or? I mean, how many
times have you bought somethingright there?

(11:30):
As you're checking out, becauseit's right there, as you're
checking out, you're like, Oh, Ican go for some gum right now.
But like, Did you really wantgum?
All that stuff that's placed instores, it's done strategically,
all that marketing stuff,commercials, you know,
billboards where they playcereal, like, literally the

(11:52):
height in the aisle where theyplay cereal, like the height of
the aisles themselves,really, are done, because
they're like, well, how can weget people to buy this, this and
that? What can we do? Whatchange can we make?
And I haven't seenthe Netflix documentary, but I
think it's basically abouttechnology. And that same idea.

(12:14):
And I'll be honest, I'm scared.
I'm honestly scared to watch it.
Becausehow many decisions are we
literally making? Because ofwhat we watch and see and hear
around us instead of like,truly, because it's like
something inside of us that wewant to do. I mean, and at the

(12:36):
core of it, you want to be like,No, I'm doing this because I
want to, but I'll be honest,like, I'll see us commercial for
something like cereal, and Ikind of feel like having cocoa
pebbles now.
Or I kind of feel like havingwhatever that restaurant is that

(12:56):
just popped up on the screen. Soit's a little weird.
There, I'm scared to watch thatNetflix thing, because
I want to think that I controlmy choices. But do I really
sometimes? I don't know. Ihonestly don't know.
I mean to freak you out, butit's true. Like, how many

(13:19):
choices are we literally makingon our own accord or because
of what we see, hear and feelaround us.
So freedom.
On a more positive note, Iguess, or
less heavy, I want to give ashout out to my little brother

(13:44):
whose birthday was on the Fourthof July. And what I do
appreciate appreciate about himis that
he allows people just by beingwho he who he is the freedom to
be who they are. So I can onlyspeak about my relationship with

(14:05):
him as a sibling. But I trulyfeel like he gives that space of
freedom for you to be yourauthentic self and you can
choose to be your authentic selfor not.
And that's a gift, you know,like how many people can you be
yourself around and truly notfeel, you know, judged, or, I

(14:29):
don't know, looked atdifferently in some way shape or
form. And that's what's reallyamazing about
the Fourth of July baby that Iknow
is that he allows people to befree to be who they are. So
thank you, Mikey for thatbecause that's an amazing gift.

(14:50):
And speaking of freedom, I thinkon a I'm going to end on this
note. We will all this stuff ishappening as you
beings in the world, right?
Unless there's something, youknow, physically barring you
from being able to think in acertain way, you know, for

(15:13):
whatever reason,we can decide what we think
about things. Like,we can decide how we think.
And what we want to think.
Obviously, thoughts come and go.
But like, you can change athought if you want it to, you

(15:35):
can give a thought some energy,you can think,
even if you're imprisonedphysically,
you have the ability to thinkyou have, like I said, barring
any physical, something orother, you have that ability to

(15:59):
think what you want to think inyour mind. Someone might have a
tape over your mouth, I don'tknow. But you can still think
something.
Someone can't take your thoughtor thoughts away, those are
still yours. And you can makethem or take them away, right?

(16:19):
You can make your own thoughts,you can take away your own
thoughts, thatmaybe that's something
even more powerful than whatexists.
Like in the real world, likewith laws or things that are
still basically colonizingpeople in a certain way, shape

(16:41):
or form by like, trying to, youknow, I don't know, hold on to
the past, I guess in some waywith some power of sorts. But
like, our thoughts are stillours, or yours.
So that's pretty powerful, orthoughts are still ours.
Okay, people, I have one storyto share, and I found it this

(17:05):
morning.
It's from tosha. Silver's,change me prayers. The hidden
power of spiritual surrender. Idon't know who this message is
for but it's titled never toolate. So back when I still did
astrology, I had a client in her70s, who was constantly being

(17:25):
advised to curl up at her,quote, advanced unquote, age and
wait to die. But Emma still hadtons of energy. Her chart told a
completely different story.
I should don't feel done. Shetold me in some ways I've barely
begun. Isn't that incredible?
Did you know i gate? I asked,gazing at her fifth house of
creativity and love crammed withsix planets, that you're

(17:47):
actually an artist. Emma'scheeks were suddenly wet with
tears as she looked down andnodded her head. Yes, I knew
when I was young, but I fear itmight be too late for that.
Well, it ain't over till it'sover I crude suggesting the
suggesting she say the followingprayer for a couple of months.

(18:08):
What the hell she had absolutelynothing to lose. My entire life
is in Divine Order. Outside ofall imagined limits, only the
Divine Will is my guide. Letwhatever dormant talents I had
emerged for the good of all.
Give me the courage to letwhatever is within me flow. Make

(18:29):
me ready. Remove any fear orresistance open the way.
I didn't hear from her for threeyears, and then an email, even
though she'd painted in her 20s.
She'd found a sculpting classsoon after we met. Eventually,
she moved to Brooklyn, to pursuewhat became a wild fire fire of
a static artistic devotion. Toher amazement, her work was now

(18:52):
in small galleries. Then asecond miracle occurred at 74.
She'd also been told herromantic life was, of course
long over. But amazingly, shehad met and fallen in love with
another artist, a woman. She wasnow having her first happy
relationship ever. Her life tookunimaginable twists just by

(19:15):
offering that packed a littlefifth house to the divine.
And then it says that there'stheir little prayers after the
short stories. Not all of themabout our astrology it's
literally like to dream she hadmy head have had are different
experiences with people. Andthis one says here changed me

(19:36):
divine beloved into one who isfreed from the illusion of time.
Protect me from the toxic viewsthis culture holds about age
helped me be open to a miracleof regeneration in every way.
May I know I'm a dazzling andeternal soul. Not a
chronological number.

(19:57):
Never too late.
action from change me prayers bytosha silver
I hope that helps somebody. Iactually one last thing
I was running two days agoI told you I sometimes I get
these messages. And the phrasethat came to mind while I was

(20:18):
midway through my work run wasI said it got me.
I said it got the army.
I don't know if that gave youthe chills or not. But
I think that was a pretty coolmessage. I said, Get the army.
If you don't know what it is.
Look it up.

(20:42):
Okay, peopleremember, it's summertime.
still wear your mask?
I don't know II'm gonna say still wear your
mask. And you're like, well, youwere just talking about freedom.
I know. But did you notice noone got the flu this winter.

(21:03):
That's when my sister in lawbrought up not too long ago.
Yeah, well, I mean, part of thereason why it's probably more
out and about butmore people had their masks on
anyway. Sosummer time, rest. Find some
time to rest a day a coupledays.

(21:24):
Take care of yourself. It'simportant.
Until then, except your sparkle,surrender to it and allow it to
be so keep shining