Last year at this time, I opined about the 4th of July Holiday. It’s one of my least favorite holidays. I’ll be working today in “celebration” and we sat our regular meditation schedule at the Studio. I eschewed the Burlington fireworks display again last night.

If today is a celebration of freedom, I think we as a nation, as a people, have squandered an opportunity. We have sought outer freedoms and ignored outer freedoms. We have pursued these freedoms with scandal, exploitation, and domination.

Today, instead, I urge you to consider inner freedom. What might it be like to be free from the tyranny of your own mind instead of old King George III? What would it be like to rest in this moment without any preconditions for happiness? What would it be like to dwell in the now without agendas for things to be a particular way?

To be in this moment–mindful–is to be liberated, independent in this moment.

So, how did you celebrate the 4th of July? Reveling in the impermanent ephemera of fireworks? Eating hot dogs and drinking red, white, and blue cans of Budweiser? Hopefully, there was some reflection on the gift of freedom and some exploration of inner freedom.

Every day is independence day when mindfulness is a part of it.