I wasn’t around for the struggle against British oppression that we celebrated the end of today. My awareness of our (the U.S.’s) relationship with Britain is one of ally.

This morning I was thinking about what independence means to me. This is what I came up with: complete autonomy of some other force exerting pressure on me. Could be a person, an institution, a government, a limiting belief.

Here are some things I’d like to celebrate freedom and independence of (dream on!)

• intolerance based in ignorance
• war
• violence
• insanely huge mortgages
• complacent and clueless auto drivers, especially around bicyclists
• crappy filler food with minimal nutritional value
• leaf blowers and other ridiculously loud equipment
• people purporting to know everything about something they know nothing about
• fossil fuel dependence
• people manipulating other people
• boring jobs

The list could go on for quite a while. What would you like complete independence from?