At the place I stayed in Switzerland they had a packet for “re-entering society” that we were encouraged to read through before leaving. A lot of it was tips about what to do if overwhelmed by large groups of people. Reading through the papers though I realized something. In very subtle language it said “You lose your freedom slowly, and without even realizing it.” I have thought about this a lot, especially since I began my re-entrance into society more fully. I have been trying to stay aware of keeping my freedom, yet it does slip away from you sneakily. The things you believe you want to be doing are actually just the pressures of everyone else’s expectations placed upon you. I often find myself sitting in my chair, staring off into the sky, and wondering “why did I agree to do this” or “why did I say I wanted to do that.” I have easily fallen back into the pattern of doing things I despise. I loosened my grip on the things I believe are important and in turn the world started to pull them away from me. Most terrifying of all, while my freedom has been slowly slipping between my fingers I almost lost myself in the process as well.