My Independence day - April 12, 2008

In under 2 months I will be celebrating 10 years of independence.  On a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon, I sat around a fire with a bunch of friends that I invited to help me witness my declaration.  My wife and I had already been living off grid for a year at that point and we were comfortable with the prospects of being able to hold our own.   I wanted to take my work to the next level as I could not conscientiously continue being a feudal serf to the Queen in Right of Alberta or the Queen in Right of Canada.  All the other freedom techniques that I was learning at the time did not resonate with me at all.  So I decided to take a page out of history and I took the Declaration of Independence that was signed in 1776 and modify it for my own use.   

I had to modify it heavily as the document had a declaration of war in it.  I also modified it so that I could comprehend what it was saying as the wording was complex and bordering on esoteric.  I sat around the fire with my friends and family and explained to them what I was doing and they all agreed to be a witness to my declaration. 

In doing so I had a few things to address right away.  The first was to decide what law form I was going to use to govern myself.  By making my declaration I was no longer subject to the law form of the realm and without some sort of code of conduct and ethics, I could easily have strayed from the path.  I wanted a law form that did not require amendments, constant upgrading to catch contingencies or the administrative nightmare as I saw with my previous master.   I wanted a law form that was simple to remember but powerful enough to ensure that I maintained the peace.  That is when I decided to use this passage as my law form.

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. ... And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. - Matthew 22:36-40 

Over the past 10 years I have come to respect this passage as I explore the true meaning of what is said here and I am in awe of the significance.  It really does reflect how important it is for me to love myself first so that I can truly honour and love others and Creator! 

With my law form in place, the first thing to do with my old master was to declare peace and forgive her.  So I sent her a letter with my declaration of peace and I forgave her, thanked her for giving me the greatest gift I could have received from her and I told her that I loved her. 

What could have possibly moved me to do that?  Well, I see my relationship with the Queen differently than most.  I love the Queen and all that she has done as she gave me the greatest gift anybody else could possibly give.  She made my life so uncomfortable that it prompted me to wake up and start taking responsibility for my life.   Her violence provided the mechanisms that pushed me to realize the level of slavery and dependency I was blindly accepting, which woke me up from my slumber.  

She literally saved my spirit from wasting away this life time.   It is my firm belief that my approach to freedom has resulted in a relatively peaceful transition.  I've never been arrested or put in jail for all the work that I do.  It has come close, but the peace has been maintained because I insist that it does.   My master is Creator and I work hard to serve.   

The consequences of that choice also meant that I had to dive head first into my relationship with Creator and Mother Earth.  Having no more safety net, I had to learn quickly what it would take to live on the land and return to my relationship with all that was created by my Spiritual master.  

I am like a child as I explore these relationships, with so much to learn.  The more I learn the more I realize that I am ignorant of the true nature of this physical realm or my role in it.  I've been tempted to return many times, but I resisted and dedicated myself even more to loving Creator and Mother Earth.  As I share my journey I know that I influence people along the way.  

In less than two months, I will reflect on the past decade as I look forward to what the future will hold during my time here.  May I reconcile my relationship with Creator using grace, peace and love as I've found ways to love myself so that I can express that love in all my relationships in the best and only way I know how. 

Nobody alive is a signatory to the Declaration of Independence.  Time to make your own and declare peace!