Liberty, according to my metaphysics, is a self-determining power in an intellectual agent. It implies thought and choice and power. (John Adams)
Two days ago, on one hot afternoon, I was rehearsing Böhm’s pieces for a concert with two violinist- friends when the door bell rang. I hated being stopped in the middle of something and was inwardly cursing this unexpected guest as I open the door. Outside our garage, a plump lady in her mid-40s stood smiling. When I approached her, she said she “needed a bit of my time” because she wanted to sell some of the flower pots she made herself. She was ever so polite. I said it was a really bad time because I’m in the middle of a practice and couldn’t really talk for long, so I asked her to stopped by sometime later (while hoping that my mum would be at home to see her). She apologized at once and promised to return.
This morning, I was reprimanding one of my students and giving him a lecture about the importance of being earnest when the same lady appeared at the door. She had the same smiling face, and the same warm words, and was asking me if I might have time this time to see her flower pots. Thank God mum was around, so I told her to go straight to the side door and see the lady boss. To make long story short, my mum bought two of her potteries.
When she left our house, there was this happy, grateful look in her face that made her skin almost glowing, and she left with her motorbike, almost flying. Watching her, I felt an instant gratitude to everything I own and do at the very moment. Because while others are dashing around selling their trades, I can have the privilege of selling my trade in my own place and at my own time. I can decide which student I want to take, and which I won’t. I can work at my own pace, and I can choose not to work when I have to, for example when things like concerts and tours take place. And the best kick out of it is that I make an awfully decent living out of what I do. That’s a luxury. A real one, in fact.
After some contemplation, I can’t say how thankful I am to my parents who persistently told me to go to piano lessons, sat with me through my first exams and concerts, fought with all their might to make me study my music, worked their asses up so I could get a taste of foreign languages in my tongue while giving me a death penalty at the same time if I didn’t finish my thesis and came out of college bearing a “Bachelor of Economy” behind my name. During those years which sometimes brought tears and anger and frustation, I always said to them that “this is my life, I can do what I want with it”. But thank goodness they didn’t let me do what I want with it. Seen from a different perspective, I can now understand that what they did was simple. By putting me in schools, paying my tuition fees and enrolling me to many courses, they were actually giving me options, so I can choose.
A lot of times when I meet old friends and tell them that “I work at home”, their almost identical reactions are: “How very nice and convenient. If I can choose, I’d do the same.”
Being able to choose is indeed the ultimate blessing, the supreme freedom. People are only truly free, when they can choose how they want to do their things and how they want their life to be. Take, for example, Teddy, a freelance street tailor who re-does pieces of clothings for living (I happen to be one of his regular customer). He used to work in a factory, but once the option to work independently presented itself, he quit, open a stall by the road and started selling his trade. He said he’s happier now, because he didn’t have to work 12 hours a day anymore, and somehow earns more money. Now he can choose to do that because he has the skills. And Teddy might be grateful for the sewing lessons his mum and dad paid for him years ago. But for those who don’t have Teddy’s advantage, they would have to accept the first thing that comes on their plates. That could mean working 12 hours in a factory, doing the same thing over and over again and getting crappy paycheck at the end of the month.
Having realized how incredibly lucky, free and blessed I am, I became more and more aware of the importance of education for the people. Because education is the tool to get that freedom. I believe that better education always means better options, which means more freedom. If one single skill can change a life of a Teddy, then people should really get good at something, anything.
This afternoon, after that pot-lady was gone, I gave my student a bit of my thoughts. Sometimes rich kids don’t really appreciate the efforts their parents give in order to give them a better life in the future because things come easily to them and they just take them for granted. But I reminded him that even though he’s sometimes tired and bored and wants to spend the afternoon shopping at the mall instead of writing notes, what he does today might give him more options in the future. He might be able to stay at home and teach, if he should like it, or not. In his adult life, even if he’s not choosing music as his career, he still can escape to it every once in a while. In any case, he won’t have to regret not having the chance to try an instrument and make a difference in his life with it. And in any case, it’s a good opportunity nevertheless, one that should not to be wasted or thrown away.
