Happiness: The freest place

As I've written before, freedom is an illusion. But it's hard to imagine such a situation:

A passerby was asked:
- Are you happy?
He smiled and replied without any hesitation:
- Yes.
Then they asked another question:
- Do you feel free?
He also answered immediately:
- No.

Wouldn't that puzzle you? It sounds like an oxymoron. It means that freedom is a necessary condition of happiness. But freedom doesn't exist, does it?

I've found a loophole. It's my own head. Of course, my ability to think is restricted by my experience, languages that I can speak, and my human body after all. But now our minds are the freest place we have. Fortunately, nobody has invented a way to read minds yet.

I prepared for a literature exam in 11th grade. It was crucial for getting into a university. I was studying literature all the time, even during other lessons.

My math teacher and I didn't get along. Nobody liked her, because she was too strict and at the same time unfair.

One day I brought a textbook to prepare for the literature exam. I was going to do all math assignments and switch to literature. When I opened the book, the teacher snatched it from my hands and made me put it in my backpack. So I decided to practice writing essays. She grabbed the paper and smirked. She thought she had won. But I just started recalling what I had learned about literature lately. Our eyes met. I guess, she understood, because she got really irritated. However, she couldn't forbid me from thinking.

Certainly, there are some cases when a person is really not allowed to think. For example, consider Hemingway's end of life. The writer lost his memory because of electroshock therapy and, after all the torment, committed suicide.

On the other hand, religious people, who can obediently accept a lot of things, strive for a high level of consciousness. It doesn't matter to them what life is going to bring them. They care about their reactions. Such people can think about whatever happens in such a way to stay peaceful. It's an incredible ability.

I feel free when I listen to music doing some chores. Although I'm washing the dishes, I'm not here mentally. I can imagine so many things, whole worlds!

It's quite funny that my mind deduced that freedom doesn't exist but it was also my mind that came to conclusion that the highest possible level of freedom under these circumstances is thinking! (I was tired while making this sentence😆)