No Fences Monday

There is nothing free about fences

I do not do well in captivity. I start to feel claustrophobic, pent in, restricted, suffocated, fettered. I can make it without a lot of money, and I prefer not to have lots of stuff, but there is no way I can live without the freedom of wide open spaces.

One of the most tragic things we have done to our beautiful planet is to create imaginary boundaries and lines that cut the beauty into artificial, little pieces. Even worse is when we solidify such arbitrary boundaries with fences and closed gates.

Fences and gates say "Mine" and "Keep Out". Boundaries divide people into "Us" and "Them".  Borders fuel a dangerous mental illness that makes us feel like we are not all in this together.

I am usually a law abiding citizen, but I have little regard for fences and locked gates. In order to avoid trespassing charges, I tend to gravitate to public land such as parks and conservation areas.

An essential activity in my life has been visiting public spaces where I can walk for days if I want, and not see a single fence or gate. I love having room to roam in wide open spaces, and discovered long ago that it spawns an expansiveness in my thinking and experience.

Without greed-driven, territorial fences limiting me, I am free.

from When The Music's Over
by Jim Morrison

What have they done to the earth?
What have they done to our fair sister?
Ravaged and plundered and ripped her and bit her
Stuck her with knives in the side of the dawn
And tied her with fences and dragged her down.
We want the world and we want it now.