There is no independence day
I am dependent on you and you are dependent on me
No man or woman is an island unto themselves
Name one man or woman that wasn’t birthed through a woman

What is the self?
Self-reliance can’t be
The universe is myself
I am the universe
All of this is me
I am dependent on the universe to eat...to live…to breath
I am self-reliant when I am in harmony with the universe

There is no independence day
Look around you and examine your clothes tags, food labels, and automobiles
Imagine if everything that has been imported disappeared
Name one country that has no imports of people, goods, or ideas

What are we free from?
A thief who escapes the authorities is captured by fear
A country extricates itself from one oppressive government only to create a mimic of that which it just escaped.
We will run further and further away thinking we’re getting freer and freer
Until there is nowhere left to go and we have no alternative but to face ourselves
We will look in the mirror and realize, freedom is within
And it doesn’t depend on external conditions or circumstances
For an ever-changing world will always have conditions and circumstances

As an adolescent, my desire was to be independent
However, as much as I craved both, I couldn’t have independence and security
As I mature, I’m finding that I seek to be more collective
Within a collective, I have role in which I am able to exhibit independent thought in my area of expertise, while trusting and depending on others to do the same in theirs. I pray that young America doesn’t tear the world family apart as it endures the same struggle I faced during my teenage years.