"The Notion of Freedom and Security"

"The notions of freedom and security seem to oppose each other. Security originates from the small, particular and definite. Freedom, on the other hand, is generated by the large, general and unlimited.

Any demarcation, real or imagined, which limits someone or something becomes a boundary, and this is the determining factor in both freedom and security. Boundaries may be fences, laws or beliefs. They may be nation bounders, brick walls, or approved behaviors. Mental constraints, the strongest of all, separate the acceptable from the unacceptable. The limited nature of a boundary creates security by diminishing access so when a home is inviolate it becomes a castle.

An ability to cut across boundaries results in freedom, while the ability to keep one's boundaries strong results in security. The turtle carries its bony protection while the wings of a wild goose create the independence it seeks.

Boundaries are meant to include as well as exclude, and with each larger boundary drawn, differences vanish and the need for law shrivels. Including strengthens, as there are fewer boundaries to patrol. The size of one's personal periphery depends on the strength of its center, so this center must be firm before the mind can begin to expand. If expansion is too rapid the center begins to wobble and the entire structure is threatened. To expand is to risk and to shrink is to guarantee.

Living without any boundaries at all is to align one's fate with that of the cosmos. Security is created by marking and maintaining boundaries and freedom by expanding and erasing them. A boundary pencil has two ends and they both need to be sharp." - Nelson Zink, The Structure of Delight