When it comes to freedom, everyone knows that we always have someone telling us what to do, where to go, what to listen to, and why we do what we do. We all have to shop for groceries and stuff for our houses or apartments. If we aren't working remote (which I've wanted to do since 2004), we have to commute from half an hour to three hours to work for eight and a half hours or more just to survive in a big city.

Even how we spend our time is based on how much money we have, whether it's paying for internet or Netflix to watch TV or subscriptions to the news in order to have a conversation at a family gathering (seriously, I go to family gatherings to talk about anything except politics), DLC content just to enjoy playing video games, memberships to the gym, constant visits at an art store for pens and paper etc.

Outside of weekends if we don't have kids, we're all like robots moving from one spot to the next, and people who operate on default we don't even realize it. A perfect example to illustrate my point is the malls that are left. We walk in, and they basically tell us, "Hey, come in and buy stuff. You may not need that stuff, but once you spend some money, you'll be happy and your life will change" and we just go along. We're happy for a bit and then once what we bought breaks or we get bored, we're sad again. Sometimes, I feel like simply going for a walk, sitting by a river to record a stream for a music project, or even taking random photos or videos with my phone is simply not allowed because it doesn't feed the "capitalist blood machine."

Bill Watterson who created Calvin and Hobbes said that "childhood is short. Maturity is forever." And whenever I hear that quote, I realize that we have very little control of our time. We're all on the same clock, whether we like it or not. Work, school, the bus or sky-train schedule, it's all about the system keeping us on track. When we "mature" or grow up, we don't get to enjoy our time anymore. Instead, we live by the rules of someone else's calendar. Spontaneity is like a fairy, something we read about in books but never actually see. And unless we're unemployed or taking a vacation, times when we finally have some spare time to ourselves, it's usually just doing chores, taking care of kids, eating, or shaving hair out of strange crevices in our bodies. No wonder adults are pissed off all the time once they grow up. It's because they don't have the space to be the children they once were and maybe even always wanted to be.

Our apartment building structures and the way houses are built aren't much help either. We're put in these buildings that prevent us from really getting to know different people, travelling to new places, and learning about other cultures. We spend our lives in the same old house or suite with the same people and barely invite people over if we do have friends. It's a never-ending loop of boredom. We call our homes our safe spaces, but they're like little forts that are seen by many as strongholds from people who make us uncomfortable. By sectioning us off into "nuclear families," we miss amazing oppurtunities to connect with our neighbors or have no idea that there are cool community events we could attend.

Speaking of travel, especially for those reading about 15 Minute Cities, here's the real conspiracy to note: if a person has a ton of money and privilege, that person can go far with cars and planes, but most of us reading are not rich. Sure, we can whine about being sectioned off into districts like the Hunger Games, but that's not what's really happening. Our capitalist system wants us to stick to our routes to work, malls, grocery stores, and gyms so the people running these places make money and take our time away. It is discouraged to go off roads to kill time to enjoy the neighborhood, so they pay us less to try to keep us from using bikes, cars, or planes to go anywhere. We're paid so little and travel has become so expensive that the only way to see the world is by watching it on TV. We think we're seeing more, but really we're just seeing the same old stuff in the same old colony. We're living our own Truman show or Groundhog Day on a loop. And some of us are so used to this that we give up on seeing our world around us in person as an important healthy value in life. That's the real conspiracy.

And yet, because the world beats us down and continues to take take take from us, we are stuck, sitting in our rooms, not using our bodies, just overworking our brains and turning them into vegetables when we're so tired. Subconciously, we all want to feel things, smell things, and taste things. We long to use more than just our brains because we're full humans with five senses that need to be fed with experiences.

One of the reasons I ran away from Winnipeg in 2024 once I got that job interview for Hootsuite was because I thought Winnipeg could never be a place brewing with new activities that let us break out of the mundane (besides church. We have enough churches in every town). After attending a social event at Skullspace, I realized that things were starting to change. But we have a lot more work to do. I believe if those changes continue, we'll see a much more vibrant downtown with open-mics near Portage and Main and not just that ugly Cube Stage in the summer. We can have house or techno music in the middle of random streets instead of Meme Fest or Pride Month. The point is that even though it's slow, we need to go back to a time no matter what town we're in where we bring the fun back into public spaces and break free from the routine at least once a day so no one can keep suffering long term from crippling depression in the winter time. We need to go back to a time when we could still have fun without our smartphones or computers. We need to build towns, cities, metropolis' and entire countries that are known for creativity and connection.

But the point of all this is to get over our obsession with time. Sometimes, it's good to stop checking what time it is and be in the present moment. One of the reasons I don't drive is because walking or biking lets me really see and feel the world around me. If I walk far enough, I can easily find hidden adventures in my own neighborhood. No need to spend money.

It's time to wake up and live in an interesting world again. They tell us to be a rebel, to get married, to start a family, to "think for ourselves," to buy land, to turn off the news, and to refuse to live in fear. Some of that may seem fine on the outside, but I have a better idea:
Travel to places you've never been to when you can afford it. Learn from other cultures. Set tables with lots of food. Bond with people who are "different." Enjoy other people's movies, pictures they draw, music they make, and create your own art even if people around you say it sucks. Reach out, give to neighbours, and build community. You won't change the world but you'll brighten someone's day.