The experience of being fully alive!

​What makes a free spirit? When you take the FREE SPIRIT QUIZ, you will know the answer: For free spirits, the most important thing in life is the experience of being fully alive (EBFA). We free spirits value this experience in ourselves, in others, and in our communities. But what exactly is that experience?
I would describe an EBFA as a peak experience in which time stands still, we lose ourselves in the moment, all distractions disappear, and we feel strong positive emotions. The EBFA has three components:

1. FREEDOM. We tend to feel most fully alive when we escape the shackles of our minds, including all of our thoughts and judgments. Imagine having no expectations, self-doubt, or insecurities. There is nobody you need to be, nowhere you need to go, and nothing you need to do. The freedom associated with the EBFA may extend to time, which has a tendency to disappear when we are immersed in the experience, and even to our sense of self. Worries, preoccupations, and even pain may dissipate at these moments. We can lose ourselves so entirely in the experience so that we forget about basic needs like hunger or thirst.
2. EUPHORIA. The bottom line is that the EBFA feels good—very, very good! The experience opens us up to love and joy, bliss and ecstasy, passion and inspiration. There is a link between the freedom we undergo during an EBFA and the euphoric feelings that ensue. Consider what happens when you unload a heavy burden that you have been carrying a long way. No burden is heavier than our sense of self, including the responsibilities and obligations that weigh us down on a daily basis. Sometimes, we just need an escape from ourselves, from the routine of our lives, and from the social conventions that may put undue pressure on us. Freeing ourselves from these constraints, we can allow ourselves to just be. And nothing feels better than that.
3. CLARITY. Our normal way of thinking and being can breed tunnel vision. We all know what it feels like to get trapped in a certain thought pattern. Over and over, our minds cover the same exact ground as if we were running laps around a track. But in an EBFA, we can break out of the mundane, open ourselves to fresh insights, and look at the world as if for the first time. In a moment of silence, we become receptive to entirely different ways of seeing things and understanding our world. It is as if a fog lifts, and suddenly we have clarity!

What happens when we make the EBFA our top priority? Imagine moving through life seeking only to experience each moment to the fullest. This is how free spirits tend to function—or at least, it is our aspiration. When we reach this aspiration, we discover how perfect this moment really is. The sensation of perfection that comes when we are completely engaged in the EBFA can be the turning point in our lives, a moment of awakening when we find out who we really are, at the very core of our being.
I will have much more to say about this awakening in the days and weeks to come. In the meantime, nothing would make me happier than to hear from you. Do you know the experience I am describing? Tell me about an EBFA you have had. What circumstances gave rise to it? What was it like for you? And how did it affect you? 

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