Freedom of Self: The Journey Back to Who You Really Are
Photo by Elisha May
Freedom of Self
For a long time, I thought freedom meant having choices. The right job. The right relationships. The right opportunities. But none of that mattered if I was still abandoning myself.
On the outside, I looked like I had it together. On the inside, I carried weight that wasn’t mine - unhealed wounds, old traumas, patterns of shrinking, silencing, and overgiving. I had learned to trade authenticity for acceptance, to make myself small so others could be comfortable.
That wasn’t freedom. That was survival.
What Freedom of Self Really Means
Freedom of Self isn’t about reinventing yourself - it’s about remembering yourself. Reclaiming the pieces of you that fragmented under shame, guilt, fear, trauma, and expectation. It’s about being the version of you, you always knew existed, but was never allowed to be.
It’s peeling back those layers until what’s left is your real voice, your real fire, your real presence. It’s no longer asking permission to exist as you are.
For me, it meant facing the parts of my story I had tried to bury. Feeling what I once numbed. Letting go of who I thought I “should” be so I could make space for who I truly am.
It’s not easy work. It means sitting with the ache of old wounds, meeting the parts of yourself you once exiled. But this work has been the most liberating path of my life - it brought me back to joy, aliveness, expansion, connection, and love I didn’t even know existed.
Why We Lose Ourselves
We’re born free: whole, connected, full of love. But then the world teaches us rules; some of us carry wounds and traumas that carve even deeper rules into our nervous systems:
Don’t be too loud.
Don’t be too sensitive.
Don’t want too much.
And so we contort ourselves into who we think we need to be to survive. Piece by piece, we abandon ourselves.
Until one day, we realise: the cost of belonging this way is losing who we are.
I know this because I lived it.
The Practice of Reclamation
Freedom of Self is not a destination: it’s a journey, it’s a practice.
For me, it has looked like:
Sitting with grief, rage, and tenderness I had long suppressed.
Speaking truths and dreams that terrified me.
Saying no when my body screamed no, even when my mind wanted to keep the peace.
Reclaiming joy, wildness, and desire without shame or guilt.
Each time I chose myself, the fire inside grew stronger, my life began to shift, and what once felt heavy began to feel alive again.
Living It Out
Today, Freedom of Self means I no longer abandon myself to make life easier for others. It means I live aligned with my soul - even when it’s raw, messy, or uncomfortable.
And that’s the invitation: to remember your fire, your voice, your sovereignty. To live fully, unapologetically, and without waiting for permission.
The world doesn’t need another copy. It needs you - lit up, alive, and free!
If you’re ready to begin your own journey back to the Freedom of Self, I walk this path with those who are ready. Together, we unravel what isn’t you and awaken what always has been.
Until next time,
Stay Sovereign. Stay Sacred. Stay Electric.
Elisha 🔥
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