If tomorrow all the things were gone I’d worked for all my life,

And I had to start again with just my children and my wife,

I’d thank my lucky stars to be living here today,

’Cause the flag still stands for freedom and they can’t take that away.</em>

And I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free.

And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.

And I’d gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.

’Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land…God bless the U.S.A.

From the lakes of Minnesota, to the hills of Tennessee,

across the plains of Texas, from sea to shining sea,

From Detroit down to Houston and New York to L.A.,

Well, there’s pride in every American heart,

and it’s time to stand and say:

I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free.

And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.

And I’d gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.

’Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land… God bless the U.S.A.

– God Bless the U.S.A., words and music by Lee Greenwood

I have loved this song since I was a little girl and Lee Greenwood himself performed it at an L.A. Dodgers doubleheader game I went to with my dad. I have such mixed emotions when I hear it now. I want to feel proud to be an American yet, like many of you, I cannot possibly be proud of the brute forces of greed and power that have driven our nation into wars, recession, and widespread illness. Now is the time to reassess our values and reclaim our voice for truth, beauty, and humanity.

This song got me thinking about freedom—the freedom that was intended to be the foundation of this country versus the way we perceive freedom today. I come from a long line of proud Americans dating back to the Revolutionary War. I am a lifelong member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), a Magna Charta Dame, and (so I’m told) a 17th Century Colonial Dame. My American ancestry runs deep.

What I love most about the American spirit is the childlike enthusiasm that we Americans have—the sense that everything is possible, that there is every reason to reach for the stars. What disturbs me most about America is that this bright spirit has been dimmed by greed and power-lust—values that serve the opposite of freedom: fear, limitation, and death. Today we have only an illusion of freedom.

Here is what true freedom means to me:

1) True freedom is the ability to make choices for our highest good.

2) Such freedom can only come from knowing one’s highest potential.

3) In both mind and body, we must transcend our social programming and clear away waste in order to see our true potential and thus exercise free choice.

When we make choices based on habit or social norms, when we construct our lives based on what others have done before or what appears safe, we are acting in fear, not exercising free will. How many people rise above their social programming long enough to make choices for their highest good? How often have you wanted to make such choices for yourself but felt compelled to follow the conventional path of least resistance?

If your body is polluted and blocked up with decades of accumulated waste matter baked into your cells, how can you consider yourself free? When you cleanse your body of the toxins suffocating your cells, you are giving yourself full permission to tear up every blueprint and program that has been drilled into you by conventional authorities so you can finally see yourself with clarity.

When you are free of the puppet strings of a limited world, you become a pioneer of freedom. The cleaner the cells and your very DNA become, the more you can trust your choices and follow the path of life and humanity. I am a free American in a country with a lot of Americans who are not free. As a fellow human first and a fellow patriot second, I extend my hand to you, so that we may all fulfill our potential as beautiful, free-thinking people of this earth.

In light of all that consciousness can be,

Natalia