Why Live Free and Happy?

I have been reading the financial independence blogosphere for more than a decade. It is comprised of some of the smartest, savviest, well-educated, critical-thinking optimizers the world has ever produced.

From my earliest interactions, I knew I wanted to be a part of this outstanding group of people. I read what they read, I invested in what they invested, I did what they did (well, arguably less bicycling). I was challenged by this new outlook and encouraged by the freedom and happiness it seemed to promise. It was all so logical. It just made sense.

But along the way, I came to realize that financial freedom, as wonderful as it is, is not the same thing as true personal freedom. It is an important facet, no doubt, in our modern, capitalistic society. The more I looked at it, sitting from my midwestern perch in ‘merica (“land of the free”) the more I wondered if freedom was less about a material state and more about a mystical one.

I know, I know. I took a left turn towards “woo” there. But give me a second.

Is freedom simply a material state? What of those with nothing, locked in prison cells for years, who went on to become great? Nelson Mandela, for example. He wasn’t free in the truest material sense, but he was free at the level of mind.

I started to wonder if the opposite was true. Could I be materially free but be spiritually or mentally in a box of my own limiting beliefs? For me, the answer was a resounding yes.

The same went for happiness. Our culture, and likely millions of years of evolution, lead us to believe that happiness is only one step away. I’ll be happy when I_____. Fill in the blank. Graduate. Get a high-paying job. Do a good real-estate deal. Reach my financial independence “number”.

And each of those things may indeed bring an elevated emotion into your life…but for a fleeting moment.

Taking a closer look, I realized that happiness isn’t about a dopamine hit.

In fact really difficult to define. In the western world, our default definition has something to do with achievement.

Let’s face it, most people who are interested in financial independence are high-achieving. To be high-achieving is, in some ways, to be defined by not being satisfied. The reason high achievers are high achievers is that they are chasing an ideal.

Do people keep chasing ideals because they believe happiness is on the other side? What if there were ways to develop happiness intrinsically? Are there people that do this naturally? What are they doing to cultivate happiness?

I figured that if I was having these questions around freedom and happiness, that other people might as well. I needed a new paradigm, one that worked better than the cultural narratives around freedom and happiness.

As this blog unfolds, I want to know how you are thinking about these things too. Are you wondering why you can’t ever have a lasting sense of satisfaction despite monumental achievement? Do you ever think we might get some things wrong in modern western culture when it comes to defining freedom and happiness? Have you defined them differently for yourself?