A celebration and a giveaway

Carved wooden courtyard doorway icon, 18th-century, Antwerp, Belgium.

In celebration of US President Barack Obama's inauguration, I am hosting a giveaway. Prizes are a copy of Art from the Heart by Catherine Matthews-Scanlon and a surprise from a French brocante. To enter, please leave a brief comment about what freedom means to you. I will draw the winning name from ma chapeau on Friday, Jan. 30th. Bon chance!

Scroll down the page for another post today.

Comments

[tinker]

Freedom means to me:
Free speech; free to move in - out - and about the country; free to pursue my own little peace of happiness, my own little slice of the American pie; free to gather with friends; free to worship my own beliefs, in my own way...
There's more - so much more, when I think about all the freedoms that other people in the world DON'T have - but freedom means more to me than I can say...

[Dale Elizabeth]

I am certain the Obama administration will restore the liberties that were lost over the past eight years, and for that we can all be thankful. What will continue to engage organizations like the ACLU are the excesses of those local officials who find that freedom and civil liberties pose obstacles to their narrow agendas.

[Tara Bradford]

I read that Bernard Madoff's scams meant the ACLU lost a huge portion of its investments, which can only make things more difficult. Thank you for the work you and the ACLU does; it's important. I hope that with the Obama administration, your work will become less difficult, as more and more civil liberties are restored and government officials no longer seek to undermine the Constitution and Americans' basic rights.

[Chris]

Hey, Tara! I have not had time to keep up lately! LOOK at all the great things you have for me to look at and read. and I must go to work at 6am PST, so I must go to bed now so I STILL can't read it all. oh, woe is me. It's a life bereft when I can't keep up with my Paris Parfait...

Please publish your blog in book form so I can take it on vacation with me. Do it NOW. I'll wait here.

No, I can't! I must go nite nite!

xo

p.s. Freedom... freedom means to me that we can inhale life and share the sweetness with others in limitless ways and means, and then... we can take full responsibility for having done so.

[Lisa-Marie]

Freedom to me is having the privilege of sharing the experience of an 82 year old African-American woman who exercised her right to vote for the first time in her life in November for the Presidential election. Followed by sharing her tears of joy as the President she helped elect took his oath of office in January.

[Dale Elizabeth]

I worry nearly every day about freedom. I wonder if we really understand what it is to be free and what it takes to remain free. I belong to the American Civil Liberties Union and serve on the legal panel of a local affiliate. We review the complaints that people file after they experience an erosion of their freedoms and decide whether we will take action to help them regain their rights. All too often, our government and fellow citizens find new ways to infringe our freedoms, and the ACLU is vilified for trying to intervene. I don't understand that. When books are banned and school kids are forced to pray, when our police engage in racial profiling and our elections officials keep voters away from the polls, these are all actions that make us a little less free. Vigilance is essential. The day we take our freedom for granted is the day we are most at risk of losing it.

[jeanie]

Freedom means I can say what I like, go where I please, feel what I feel, and embrace life, diversity, differences and disagreements with confidence, knowing that I am safe.

[Gillian]

knowing that I will never again have to spend a day walking on eggshells

[The Antiques Diva]

Tara,

I’ve spent a lot of time over the last week after watching the inauguration thinking about the question you posed, “What does freedom mean to me?” My main realization has been how much I have taken it for granted throughout my lifetime. I’ve lived under an assumption of freedom, an assumption that humbled me as I watched the flow of history – and awed over how awesome the change has been in the last 60 years from Obama’s father being refused service in a restaurant to today his son becoming president of the USA. Today, as history is changing, I am honored by the freedoms we are granted and feel so blessed for all that I have been given. This doesn’t answer the question you posed… for I still don’t know how to articulate the answer to your question, but perhaps more importantly, I’m recognizing my freedom for the first time in a new way and giving appreciation for it.
By the way, last year on Independence Day I wrote a blog on The American Spirit that I think you might appreciate. http://antiquesdiva.blogspot.com/2008/07/fourth-of-july-special-edition-american.html

[Kathy]

F - free to think
R - relish in life itself
E - enjoy being who you are
E - expressing your thoughts, freely
D - dreaming and doing
O - over the top & reaching for the starts
M - mind altering travels
What a great thought provoker.

[My Melange]

After just seeing the film Slumdog Millionaire last night- freedom means not having to endure living in those slums of India and being able to practice whatever religion (or not practice) I choose, without the fear of being beaten and killed.

Freedom is being able to express my opinion without fear of retribution. And as a women freedom means the ability to go to work, to see a movie, to vote, to wear what I want and to get an education- which some countries do not allow.

I have freedoms that women in some countries only dream of. And I appreciate them everyday :)

[Tara Bradford]

That's one reason I'm practicing my Spanish - one way or another, Cuba it is! :)

[Gillian]

Freedom to me is one day hopping a plane and joining you in Havana, for a tour of Hemingway's favourite old haunt-as we document our journey through our photographic lenses...you of course being allowed into Cuba since the new President has overturned the embargo....
...just a dream?
Maybe not!

We'll get to Cuba one day my friend!!! xoxo

[Allegra]

Freedom is to believe that everything is possible because we believe it is.

[judith]

True luxury is - freedom.

[Fran]

Tara, Your blog is fabulous. Thank you for always sharing your insight.

Freedom is not having to quiet your thoughts.

Please enter me in your drawing. Best, Fran

[Carole]

Freedom is having the choice to say no.

[Tina Löfgren]

Dear Tara,

Freedom is the written word. To write, to read, to speak. To pass it on in a speach, in a blog, in an email or in a book. Freedom is knowing and not being afraid.

Thank you for a lovely blog!

Greetings from Scandinavia

[Brian]

Freedom to live without fear of government intervention.

[Tara Bradford]

Rel, when I read your comment I had an instant vision of people rushing down the stairs, without jostling or pushing each other. Surely you mean "dissent?" :)

[rel]

Tara,
Freedom:
The ability to descent
without acrimony.
rel

[emmajames]

Freedom for me the ability to follow my dreams, speak my mind with the possibility of creating offense and the assurance of safety from persecution, to have choice, and to have access to information.

I'm thrilled that after eight years of curtailed rights in the name of security, we now have hope again with a President who truly understands freedom as outlined in our constitution.

[Nancy ~Fete et Fleur]

Freedom

One Of Our Greatest Rights
Air Soaring
Death Defying
Unquenchable
Never Ending . . .

[Rosa]

Freedom means being able to vote for the person you think would best suit our country. We have proven so much about freedom in our latest selection! Yay!

[Val]

Freedom is liberation from the chains of fear, pain and oppression in all it's various forms. What a wonderfully provocative question Tara.

[Relyn]

Oh, Tara. I love this.

Freedom. It's one of those words that is too small to hold all our definitions of it. I could never do better than Yoli's simple and profound definition, but here is one of mine.

Freedom can be summed up in four profound words. "I have a dream." With freedom, we can all have our own dreams. Even big, scary, or profound dreams. And. We can count on others to share with us, to work with us, and to make that dream come true. Freedom is the ability to dream and know that they have a chance, with a lot of work and faith, of someday coming true.

[soul aperture]

This is a great way to celebrate!

Assata Shakur was once asked what freedom meant to her. She answered - You asking me bout freedom? I have never been free. I know more about what freedom isn't, than what it is.

That always stuck with me in life.

Freedom is about being able to grow freely, with expression, compassion and equality. No matter, race or religion.

xxoo

[barbro vigeant]

Freedom is following your dreams, live the life you want and take responsibility for your share of the universe.

[Rebekah]

Freedom is being able to whisper into my Grandbaby's ear that the limitations to his future are bounded by his own imagination and his will. His Grandmother somtimes imposed limitations out of fear on her own life that were not imposed by law or opportunity. I want him to embrace this free world of possibility that I have so often taken for granted, and fall in love with it with a passion that will help ensure its sustenance. If we don't love it truly, we can contribute to its quiet demise, tiny piece by tiny piece.

[gladys]

Freedom for me is a very personal thing it's the freedom to get up when I feel like it, to do and say as I choose and to go to bed when I'm tired. I do realise that I am indeed rather spoilt and very, very lucky to have this freedom and how for many my personal freedom would be an indulgence.

[Colette Copeland]

Freedom resides in us: It's invisible, it's a feeling that no one can take away from us, even if the door is locked and we don't have the key. Attitudes open those doors....

xxo

[Yoli]

Tara, I am not as eloquent as you so it will be brief. Freedom to me, born in a communist country, means life.

[Marilyn]

Freedom for me means that all women can choose what happens with their body and in their souls. That all children have an equal education. That each person is given health care when needed. That we don't live in fear. but are free to expand and follow our dreams.

[dutchbaby]

You've asked one of my favorite questions in the world! Freedom allowed us to succeed and follow our passions regardless of our family roots, connections, or an expensive education.

We came to America over forty years ago with only the will to work hard, the hope to succeed and without knowing a soul in this country. In spite of our humble beginnings, my sisters and I each got a terrific public school education which allowed us to become productive members of society.

My mother only has an eight grade education. Yet through many years of hard work, she was able to gather enough pennies to buy an apartment building in San Francisco which is supporting her throughout her retirement years.

My father was able to follow his passions by writing and self-publishing four books in his retirement years.

I can’t think of any other country in the world that has this much freedom.

[RD]

Freedom in a democracy means there's always hope for better when all there seems to be is despair. I think this is what we celebrated in the US this week, that our democracy and freedom can once again flourish after a period of famine. It was a good week for our country, and we hope it heralds better weeks for the rest of the world too.

[Carolien]

Dear Tara,

What a lovely idea.

Freedom means to me
an outreached hand
and a smile on every child's face.

Warm wishes,

Carolien

[Leau]

Dear Tara, freedom is such a delicious word, isn't it? In my humble, but adequate, opinion it means that I can disagree with people and voice that and not be worried about being taken out in the middle of the night never to be seen again. It means the opportunity to live and work side by side with people who think and learn and behave and endure differently than I do. It means choosing what is right for me, all by myself. It means my dreams are as important as anyone else's. It means I can ramble on in the comments of a blog apparently! You made me think very early in the morning on this fine Saturday...smooches