Deliberate or De-liberate?
I often find it interesting to consider the etymology of words. Often taken for granted it’s one of those things that because it stares you in the face we just take for granted the deeper meanings that it could provide us.
I was thinking about this one in the sense of ensuring I use my time ‘deliberately’. If there is one commodity that is finite, it’s our time in this world.
So in considering my usage of my time - the word deliberate sprung to mind, because I’ve put some thought into how I would like to use my time through restricting the things I use my time on.
It then occured to me that although we pronounce it ‘de-lib-ret’ (at least I do) the spelling of the word would encompass two things:
‘de’ like the removal or lessening of something.
‘liberate’ as in releasing something or someone free from oppression
Now to be fair, I did look this one up and my particular take on this is probably not 100% factual, simply because the etymology of the 2 words come from 2 slightly different latin words:
Deliberate stems from the latin word ‘librare’ for weigh and the conjunction of de-librare formed deliberatus which meant ‘considered carefully’
Liberate on the other hand cames from the word ‘liber’ which means to free
Interesting though the connection between the weight of something and the freeness of something are definitely intertwined.
That aside though, there is definitely some truth in the idea that when we do something deliberately, we are restricting our freedom in a sense. Without doing so, there are so many other actions, thoughts or ideas that could occupy our minds that we can’t focus and do something deliberately without restricting our freedom.
Ahh.. the paradox of life, that the act of restricting our freedom would actually allow us to have more freedom. Through taking care of our business deliberately, we then allow ourselves ‘spare’ time to use on other endeavours (or to squander away)
This very idea has been espoused in many different forms whether it’s Jocko Willink through Discipline Equals Freedom or Alan Watts and his various deliberations or pick a thinker / philosopher and you might find some parallel ideas,.
All that aside, it’s a simple idea that we can put into action - what restraints do I need to put on myself to achieve the stuff I need to today? Perhaps it’s reducing screen times on your phone, or perhaps it’s forcing yourself to take a specific action (mine includes both of these)
De-liberate yourself, and do something deliberately…
Enjoy!
