Born free, as free as the wind blows
As free as the grass grows
Born free to follow your heart

Live free, and beauty surrounds you
The world still astounds you
Each time you look at a star

Stay free, where no walls divide you
You’re free as the roaring tide
So there’s no need to hide

Born free, and life is worth living
But only worth living
‘Cause you’re born free

(Stay free, where no walls divide you)
You’re free as the roaring tide
So there’s no need to hide

Born free, and life is worth living
But only worth living
‘Cause you’re born free

Academy Award Best Song in 1966 from film of the same name, BORN FREE written by John Barry (music) and Don Black (lyrics).

I loved this song as a youngster. I remember it so very well. There was a version sung by Andy Williams, and my parents also had it on an instrumental album. Yes, a vinyl record. It struck a chord in my soul – in my innocent knowing of truth and what is important in being alive. My soul soars every time I hear it. So, I share it with you.

The song and movie are based on the true story of a couple in Africa who fostered three abandoned lion cubs. Two were later sent to zoos but a lioness named Elsa was raised by the couple who documented the process. They were able to introduce Elsa back in to the wild where she mated and raised cubs of her own. Link to YouTube video of Elsa with song sung by Matt Monro.

I had not heard the song nor thought of it for decades. When I did, I thought to put the lyrics in a Substack post with a note: “Nuf said.” However, the music adds so much and the video was included. Then I began to consider why it was moving and what I thought being free meant.

The song came back to me just before I took a trip to San Diego. Friends and I visited the Zoo and the Wild Animal Park. There are lions and lionesses in both venues. The Zoo has a pair in an enclosed exhibit while the Park has three lionesses and one lion in a larger open-air exhibit separated from the public by a moat and a glass viewing station.

Pretty good accommodations for captured animals but still confined. They can get up and walk around in a circle. They are fed and very well cared for. It is probably annoying to have so many humans about making noise. The Zoo’s lioness looked in my direction. It seems egotistical to say she looked at me, but I looked back as if she saw me. I apologized for her captivity. I apologized that her situation may allow her a longer life but what kind of life.

There is something within me that hates the cages and the captivity. I understand all the reasons for wildlife preservation and am grateful for the work done. However, when I looked for images of lions to include in this essay, most options seemed to be pictures taken in a zoo environment or on a safari in a preserve. What does being born free mean today?

And what does it mean for a human being to be born free? Free to do what? What does it feel like? The song and music make me soar. They evoke a feeling in my being – a belonging to Something Greater, which is Life.

The most basic freedom we each have is the freedom to choose how we respond. This is a lesson many people take away from reading Viktor Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning. Even in the desperate conditions of the WWII concentration camps, individuals demonstrated their values and beliefs by how they responded to the cruelty, terror and hardship. The camp system took everything away from the prisoners and imposed conditions to break their bodies, minds and souls. It could not take away how each person chose to respond in each situation.

This power to respond and to choose may be the key to freedom in all circumstances. We know we are not free to do whatever we want whenever we want. There are basic laws of behavior and cooperation required to live among other living beings. Many of us are willing to live within the confines of the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”

Most of us choose this boundary freely. It is this decency that keeps the world going. It is this admirable trait in most human beings that is exploited by those who would control and manipulate, which really makes me angry. It is up to us to cultivate our decency and to continually move away from trapping ourselves in cages of negative thinking and distrust.

Considering what is means for me to be free today, I come back to balance. Balancing my needs and desires with my understanding of being in a society and civilization. In the United States where I live, there is much freedom still available to me within the confines of balance. In fact, once I accept the boundaries of life, such as the need to obey laws and care for myself and my family, I am pretty darn free to create my own life beautifully.

Each person feels their way through life in their own unique pattern. At least, that is the opportunity we have if we accept the boundaries of living in harmony with others and then strive heartily to explore and expand our own talents, skills, awareness, and inclinations. This is particularly true for those who are not born with advantages and support IF we create a world of opportunity for all and WHEN we know that when one of us soars, we all soar.

We are coming into an accepted awareness that humans influence their individual life paths and the environment around them in very significant ways. Many people say that we create our reality. If this is true, there are a group of people working overtime on the wrong intentions, because greed, fear, self-interest and disregard for life on this planet has taken priority. Those of us who revere life had better get focused and clear in our manifesting now!

We must remember our capacity for joy in being alive in these days of change. We are each filled with the beauty of the human spirit and free to choose higher and better in each moment.

So here is one more chance to soar with the Andy Williams version of the song to which a very intense young girl would dance around the living room singing her heart out. Feel the joy. This is who we really are.