What are you celebrating your independence from?

July 4th may not be a typical take stock kind of holiday like New Years or even Thanksgiving, but I was thinking - it's Independence Day - what am I celebrating my personal independence from?

A couple of things came to mind - I'm celebrating my independence from diet culture - that swamp of thought that tells us thinner is always better and this new magic pill/diet/lifestyle/whatever is the key to getting it. Yeah, I'm done with that. I'm celebrating my independence from people pleasing and emotion managing, or at least from the need to do it all the time (let's face it, it's a work in progress!).

I think I'm also celebrating my independence from not saying what I want out loud. I was thinking recently of things I really wanted - kind of dreams I had at different parts of my life. I didn't share them, and they didn't happen. Could talking about them with my partner and others have made a difference? Probably. It's worth a shot to do things differently now! So I'm celebrating my independence from the way I used to do things - to give myself permission to be different.

So what are you celebrating your independence from?