Buying a used car on my own with my own money that I earned myself. I did the research by myself, I contacted the seller by myself, I checked it by myself, test drove it by myself, bought it by myself, registered it by myself, drove it home by myself. I was 20 years old. 10 years later, I still have it. It actually turned out to be a great deal.
EDIT: The only annoying thing – albeit weirdly satisfying at the same time – was everyone assuming my dad got it for me.
I think the first time I felt truly free was when I stopped asking for permission to live my life the way I wanted.. It’s scary but also incredibly empowering
Driving to a job I worked hard to get, in my paid off car that I love, while listening to music I used to listen to when I was 17/18. I thought about the growth over the last 10 years or so and started crying out of happiness.
I started a pollinator garden! My boyfriend dug a pond and since then it’s been up to me to decorate and pick the plants and its just been so wonderful. Its inspired me to go back to school and try to pursue a career in horticulture.
Installed my own oven by hardwiring. Felt like a god of home improvement, free from the shackles of the Best Buy installation team. I am unstoppable 😤💪
I was 24 when I was finally divorced and had my own space but going from a strict household with my parents to being married and a mom , there was no freedom but man it was so freeing being on my own for once.
Registering as a different political party than my upbringing had always dictated. It was my first act of independence that later became a way of life.
Moving away from my home town. I moved to a beautiful mountain town and it was an amazing experience. I left the mountain town but never moved back home.
Went on my first cruise and went through Jamaica and Bahamas and the culture shock… came back more humbled in my heart and realized how free we really are and have it in the US. One love forever now
Lived on my own with no roommates, boyfriend, or even attached neighbors. I lived on a ranch on my own with my dogs and cared for 24 horses in exchange for cheap rent and a stall/food for my horse.
It was awesome and I can’t wait to do it again when I get old, lol.
Getting onto a CGM (continuous glucose monitor). After 25 years of having to manually test blood sugar (which I wasn’t doing often because I was burnt out and test strips are expensive) it was amazing.
For those that don’t use them, they get inserted and are good for 10-14 days depending on the kind you’re using. It doesn’t just tell you your blood sugar but how it’s trending with arrows. Steady, slightly up or down, a single arrow up or down, or double arrows up or down. So I can know if my blood sugar is at a good point or if I need to step in with carbs or insulin. Plus if you go too high or low (based on your pre-sets) it will sound and alarm, which is amazing if I go low or high overnight.
It has freed me from so much mental strain I didn’t even realize I had and my blood sugars are the best they’ve ever been.
I have struggled with weight and food noise my entire life. Struggled. It consumed my thoughts on the daily.
Keto has eliminated the food noise for the first time ever, lost more than 100lbs, and I’m finally at a healthy weight and maintaining.
The misconception is that keto is a very limiting diet, but for me, it’s the opposite. I eat cheese and butter and full-fat dairy (keto ice creams are amazing) and cream sauces… I experiment with recipes and have broadened my food choices.
It’s been a revelation for me. I no longer feel shackled to food, I enjoy it.
And I’ve never felt so free.
Disclaimer: I know keto isn’t for everyone, but it is for me.
Cutting contact with my horrible father, and going out on my own and realizing I did not need him to support myself at all. He made it sound like I couldn’t function without him, but he was wrong and I knew it. Time spent never talking to him proved it.
When I got my first apartment on my own after leaving my ex-husband. I was with him for nearly 10 years, subjecting myself to psychological abuse and alienating everyone that loved me. I was finally free to do as I pleased and it felt great!
I failed in 2nd year of my degree college. Dropped out, changed my course to the 1 I always wanted to do but my family didn’t let me do it & joined a different college from 1st year again. Man! IT FELT SO GOOD. I felt alive for the first time ever. Best feeling of my life.
Reaching the top of a mountain while trekking with friends, I literally sat on the edge to watch the expanse of the world before me and took a big gulp of air, the sounds and the wind was extremely relaxing <3
I decided to walk to my favorite coffee place while it was raining. Okay well, it was pouring, but it made me feel like a little kid again. I skipped, jumped in small puddles, did a cinematic twirl with my arms facing the sky, I felt like I could do anything. It took over an hour round trip, but it was the most freeing I felt. I’m a little less than a week away from my divorce being finalized, and that walk in the rain I took? It was the happiest I’d been in years while I was with him. Dude didn’t check in on where I was until I was 10 minutes away from the house. I’d been gone over an HOUR, walked right past you and told you where I was going before I left, and you somehow had no idea where I was? Pft, that walk was the best thing I’ve ever done.
Adoration in Church. When the lights were dim and it was time for silent reflection. You and God. That’s where I felt free for the very first time and my mind had never felt more at ease.
I went to a nude beach recently for the first time and swam in the ocean completely naked. It was raining (no thunder or lightning) and I was with my friends and SO diving in the waves. 10/10 time. I hadn’t played in the water like that since I was a kid.
Dressing boldly with all the colours!! And heels!!
So for context I grew up in a culture where you need to dress down a notch to appear smart and approachable (plain clothes in neutrals). So it came a day where I moved abroad and no longer model myself after a freaking doormat – it feels brilliant
Superar um transtorno alimentar e recuperar energia para poder sair e andar até cansar, em alguns dias literalmente atravessei minha cidade caminhando não para queimar calorias mas porque me sinto viva me movimentando, me sentindo livre pra comer sempre que sentisse fome sem preocupações.
Being single for the first time in my adult life (I’m early/mid 20s and a chronic relationship hopper) and not actively searching for/needing to be in the next relationship. It’s amazing how much more you can give to the world when you are only in charge of yourself and your own emotional regulation. I have been able to grow so much personally and professionally, investing in beautiful friendships and family relationships, and truly begin to build a friendship with myself. There are still moments of loneliness and doubt, but holy shit I have never felt so free and at peace in my life.
I drove by an outdoor event that had Collective Soul playing and I didn’t go in because I was alone/scared and I always regretted it. I decided that after that I would never let myself hold me back. If there was something I wanted to do, I was going to do it. I’ve lived by this ever since and I always think back to the concert I could’ve gone to any time I get scared again.
Leaving my toxic relationship and living in my own for the first time in my life…. the peace and quiet is a freedom I’d never imagine I would get to experience 🙏🏻
Comments
Taking a solo trip
When I started SCUBA
Blasted music while dancing around a house naked, with socks. It was lovely.
took a solo trip with no plan, no one to answer to, just me and my backpack felt like i could finally breathe and be fully myself
Buying a used car on my own with my own money that I earned myself. I did the research by myself, I contacted the seller by myself, I checked it by myself, test drove it by myself, bought it by myself, registered it by myself, drove it home by myself. I was 20 years old. 10 years later, I still have it. It actually turned out to be a great deal.
EDIT: The only annoying thing – albeit weirdly satisfying at the same time – was everyone assuming my dad got it for me.
[removed]
When I started dressing for comfort rather than how I looked to other people.
Opened my business.
Travelled solo abroad! I went to Disneyland alone and I never felt so free and confident!
Going out without a bra.
I think the first time I felt truly free was when I stopped asking for permission to live my life the way I wanted.. It’s scary but also incredibly empowering
Solo hiking trip, I’d never been anywhere by myself and it was fantastic not having to please anyone else.
Leaving a toxic ex.
Driving to a job I worked hard to get, in my paid off car that I love, while listening to music I used to listen to when I was 17/18. I thought about the growth over the last 10 years or so and started crying out of happiness.
Cut off my hair (buzzed)
Having my first place and paying rent. It was nice to not have other people around that saw everything I did. Pretty freeing
I started a pollinator garden! My boyfriend dug a pond and since then it’s been up to me to decorate and pick the plants and its just been so wonderful. Its inspired me to go back to school and try to pursue a career in horticulture.
Going out all by yourself
Installed my own oven by hardwiring. Felt like a god of home improvement, free from the shackles of the Best Buy installation team. I am unstoppable 😤💪
i stopped taking care of people’s opinion, and that changed me a lot
doing anything or going anywhere alone. also, living on your own gives you such a sense of peace and comfort. complete freedom
Finished school.
Get a divorce and then my own apartment.
I was 24 when I was finally divorced and had my own space but going from a strict household with my parents to being married and a mom , there was no freedom but man it was so freeing being on my own for once.
Registering as a different political party than my upbringing had always dictated. It was my first act of independence that later became a way of life.
Going to concert alone in a different city.
Got a job after being a sahm for eleven years. It’s a brand new world and I’m here for it
Shave my long hair to 2mm. Best experience ever, so eye opening!
Finishing Roaccutane and walking around no heavy foundation looking up instead of the ground 🙂
Moving away from my home town. I moved to a beautiful mountain town and it was an amazing experience. I left the mountain town but never moved back home.
[removed]
Went on my first cruise and went through Jamaica and Bahamas and the culture shock… came back more humbled in my heart and realized how free we really are and have it in the US. One love forever now
Lived on my own with no roommates, boyfriend, or even attached neighbors. I lived on a ranch on my own with my dogs and cared for 24 horses in exchange for cheap rent and a stall/food for my horse.
It was awesome and I can’t wait to do it again when I get old, lol.
Getting onto a CGM (continuous glucose monitor). After 25 years of having to manually test blood sugar (which I wasn’t doing often because I was burnt out and test strips are expensive) it was amazing.
For those that don’t use them, they get inserted and are good for 10-14 days depending on the kind you’re using. It doesn’t just tell you your blood sugar but how it’s trending with arrows. Steady, slightly up or down, a single arrow up or down, or double arrows up or down. So I can know if my blood sugar is at a good point or if I need to step in with carbs or insulin. Plus if you go too high or low (based on your pre-sets) it will sound and alarm, which is amazing if I go low or high overnight.
It has freed me from so much mental strain I didn’t even realize I had and my blood sugars are the best they’ve ever been.
Eating a keto diet.
I have struggled with weight and food noise my entire life. Struggled. It consumed my thoughts on the daily.
Keto has eliminated the food noise for the first time ever, lost more than 100lbs, and I’m finally at a healthy weight and maintaining.
The misconception is that keto is a very limiting diet, but for me, it’s the opposite. I eat cheese and butter and full-fat dairy (keto ice creams are amazing) and cream sauces… I experiment with recipes and have broadened my food choices.
It’s been a revelation for me. I no longer feel shackled to food, I enjoy it.
And I’ve never felt so free.
Disclaimer: I know keto isn’t for everyone, but it is for me.
Going to the movies by myself a couple years ago. I try to do that once a month
Sever all ties with my father
No mortgage = freedom
Moving out of my parents into a shared apt with a friend. Very freeing. Then my first car.
[removed]
My first divorce.
[removed]
Going to a sapphic party for the first time.
Cutting contact with my horrible father, and going out on my own and realizing I did not need him to support myself at all. He made it sound like I couldn’t function without him, but he was wrong and I knew it. Time spent never talking to him proved it.
i stopped wearing a bra 5 years ago and it was rly fulfilling to not care anymore! movement is less restrictive it’s the best
First credit card, I then realized that I was an adult
Getting a divorce.
When I got my first apartment on my own after leaving my ex-husband. I was with him for nearly 10 years, subjecting myself to psychological abuse and alienating everyone that loved me. I was finally free to do as I pleased and it felt great!
When I was 21 and I got my first apartment to myself afte escaping an abusive ex and moving away from a toxic family. Rebuilt my life from scratch.
[removed]
Saying fuck it and staying late with friends when my strict parents were literally going mad and calling me like so many times. I switched of my phone
I failed in 2nd year of my degree college. Dropped out, changed my course to the 1 I always wanted to do but my family didn’t let me do it & joined a different college from 1st year again. Man! IT FELT SO GOOD. I felt alive for the first time ever. Best feeling of my life.
Reaching the top of a mountain while trekking with friends, I literally sat on the edge to watch the expanse of the world before me and took a big gulp of air, the sounds and the wind was extremely relaxing <3
Accepting, expressing, and loving my femininity instead of hiding it away
Escaped familial human trafficking with my youngest child 10 years ago.
Not for the first time, and this is very minor but going out without a bra makes me feel so free
Running through a forest at night alone.
Not being in a relationship
solo trips strip life down to just you and the world.
Telling “go fck yourself” to my ex partner who abused me 💪
I quit my job, I feel so much weight off my shoulders emotionally.
[removed]
Pay down my student loans. Made me feel financially healthy for the first time since college.
[removed]
Writing, public speaking, singing, anything related to performance and self expression.
Screaming at the top of my lungs on a field trip right after I got divorced.
I decided to walk to my favorite coffee place while it was raining. Okay well, it was pouring, but it made me feel like a little kid again. I skipped, jumped in small puddles, did a cinematic twirl with my arms facing the sky, I felt like I could do anything. It took over an hour round trip, but it was the most freeing I felt. I’m a little less than a week away from my divorce being finalized, and that walk in the rain I took? It was the happiest I’d been in years while I was with him. Dude didn’t check in on where I was until I was 10 minutes away from the house. I’d been gone over an HOUR, walked right past you and told you where I was going before I left, and you somehow had no idea where I was? Pft, that walk was the best thing I’ve ever done.
Shaved my head!
Burlesque.
It’s been a few years and I’m trying to get back to it but man was it exhilarating and freeing
Adoration in Church. When the lights were dim and it was time for silent reflection. You and God. That’s where I felt free for the very first time and my mind had never felt more at ease.
Moving out the first time from parents house.
Being in a house I can call my own
Moving away from my small town. Finally getting to travel and see how big (and small) the world is.
fentanyl
KIDDING!!!
but no fr,
you never get the free again.
don’t do drugs (2 years clean) wasted a lot of years trying to be “free”
Saying something I really wanted to say even tho I was scared to say it, and then seeing results from it. My actions can impact my world!
Casual sex
Seriously
Moved to another country across the world by myself
Wearing a swimsuit at the beach for the first time in 10- 12 years and swimming in the ocean
Doing things solo and never telling anyone what I do. Soon maybe solo travel ✨
I went to a nude beach recently for the first time and swam in the ocean completely naked. It was raining (no thunder or lightning) and I was with my friends and SO diving in the waves. 10/10 time. I hadn’t played in the water like that since I was a kid.
Keeping my phone on silent. Blocking coworkers who don’t respect boundaries. Would call with unrelated work issues. I’m a Corrections Officer/Deputy.
Cut my hair impulsively and didn’t cry about it
cut my hair hella short on impulse
Relocating and driving myself to a different state with all of my belongings and pets.
[removed]
Dressing boldly with all the colours!! And heels!!
So for context I grew up in a culture where you need to dress down a notch to appear smart and approachable (plain clothes in neutrals). So it came a day where I moved abroad and no longer model myself after a freaking doormat – it feels brilliant
Superar um transtorno alimentar e recuperar energia para poder sair e andar até cansar, em alguns dias literalmente atravessei minha cidade caminhando não para queimar calorias mas porque me sinto viva me movimentando, me sentindo livre pra comer sempre que sentisse fome sem preocupações.
Quit my job due to an abusive, bully manager
Buying a house on my own after a divorce
Sitting in the city I was interning at knowing I could be whatever I wanted from this moment on
moving to a new country
Being single for the first time in my adult life (I’m early/mid 20s and a chronic relationship hopper) and not actively searching for/needing to be in the next relationship. It’s amazing how much more you can give to the world when you are only in charge of yourself and your own emotional regulation. I have been able to grow so much personally and professionally, investing in beautiful friendships and family relationships, and truly begin to build a friendship with myself. There are still moments of loneliness and doubt, but holy shit I have never felt so free and at peace in my life.
I drove by an outdoor event that had Collective Soul playing and I didn’t go in because I was alone/scared and I always regretted it. I decided that after that I would never let myself hold me back. If there was something I wanted to do, I was going to do it. I’ve lived by this ever since and I always think back to the concert I could’ve gone to any time I get scared again.
Leaving my toxic relationship and living in my own for the first time in my life…. the peace and quiet is a freedom I’d never imagine I would get to experience 🙏🏻
Got divorced
I quitted my call center job. Birds were singing!
Skinny dipping at a beach in Hawaii and not getting caught. It was absolutely freeing and felt natural if you can believe it.
Getting my first apartment post divorce. It was the first time I ever lived alone. It was so freeing even though I was broke