I was sitting in the quiet common room at the community centre, waiting for our dance class to begin. The conversations were light until I was asked, “How are you doing?”

The question itself is not troublesome, but the interesting response to it.

Quick backstory.

I recently placed my Dad into a Care Home. He had been living with me since the start of COVID, and over the past year, his physical health had been deteriorating, and he needed more attention and care from me. Nursing care assisted me in the mornings and evenings, and if they didn’t show, I was on plan B. The experience, at times, felt wonderful, and at times, it felt overwhelming. When I explained that to anyone, they usually responded with some acknowledgment that this was all “understandable.” There were justifications for the way I felt.

So when the question of how I was feeling came up, and I reflected on it, what occurred to me was the transition of feelings and thinking that I was going through. Having my Dad in a Care Home and knowing he was safe had different feelings depending on whether I was secure about the choice or insecure about it. In other words, it depends.

I answered, “I find it interesting that, at times, I experience feelings of guilt over my Dad being in a home. Feelings that I could have done more. I maybe could have done better and adjusted more of my life to keep Dad at home. It’s funny that I have those thoughts, still knowing that all will be well with him in the long run.”

In this person’s innocence, they responded, “You shouldn’t feel/think that.”

I knew what he meant, and I wasn’t going to play with what he was saying. In his understanding, there are thoughts that people (or, in this case, me) should not have.

Well, I don’t get to choose my thoughts. Do you? Please let me know, because I would like to learn how. What I do get to choose is which ones I want to focus on as real—good, bad, or maybe just thoughts that happened to land on my attention at the moment.

I started to reflect on this conversation the next day on my walk with Willow. Willow is such a cool creature and never judges my craziness or the headspace that I might be in at that moment. There was something in that space that Willow allowed. I wondered and got curious.

Humanity has crafted declarations, charters, and laws to protect fundamental human rights for centuries. From the Magna Carta to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we have sought to define and safeguard freedoms that ensure dignity, fairness, and equality. Yet, while these documents focus on external liberties—freedom of speech, religion, and movement—one essential realm has been overlooked: the inner freedoms we are all born with.

We have legal rights, civil rights, and human rights. But what about Psychological Rights? Or perhaps Spiritual Rights? The unspoken yet undeniable freedoms that shape our experience of life from the inside out.

Hear ye, hear ye, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, humans around the world, lend me your ears!

Introducing the Rights, You Were Born With

As a human being, you have rights that transcend politics and institutions—rights that are already yours, whether you recognize them or not. These are the natural freedoms of the mind, the spirit, and the essence of who you are.

Your Spiritual Rights:

• You have the right to think whatever you want. No one can control your thoughts, and you are free to explore, imagine, and question anything.
• You have the right to live in a separate reality. Every person sees the world through their own unique lens. Your reality is shaped by your thoughts, and that’s okay.
• You have the right to remain silent—despite what your ego tells you. Just because a thought shows up doesn’t mean you have to act on it. You can let it pass.
• You have the right to change your mind in an instant. You are not bound by past beliefs, old narratives, or yesterday’s understanding.
• You have the right to experience fresh thought at any moment. Insight and clarity are always available, no matter how stuck you feel.
• You have the right to be wrong without it meaning anything about you. Mistakes don’t define you. Learning and growing are part of being human.
• You have the right to feel anything without needing to justify it. Emotions come and go, and none of them are wrong. You don’t have to explain or defend them.
• You have the right to take life less seriously. Joy and lightness are always an option. You don’t have to wait for permission to embrace them.
• You have the right to not believe everything you think. Thoughts are not facts. You can question them, let them pass, or simply observe them without attachment.
• You have the right to experience peace, even in chaos. Peace is not about controlling the outside world—it’s an internal state that’s always available to you.
• You have the right to not take your past as proof of your future. You are not a prisoner of your history. Every moment is new.
• You have the right to wake up to the illusion whenever you’re ready. The world looks different when you realize how much of it is created in your own mind.
• You have the right to be human, messy, and perfectly okay as you are. Perfection is a myth. You are enough, just as you are, in all your humanness.

Why This Matters

These rights don’t need to be granted—they are yours by design. Recognizing them is an act of self-liberation. Remembering these freedoms can be life-changing in a world that often tells us what we should think, feel, or believe.

Imagine if these were taught alongside legal rights in schools. Imagine if leaders, educators, and caregivers embodied these understandings. Imagine if we all lived knowing that we were free beneath the noise of life.

The good news? We don’t need a government, an institution, or a legal system to acknowledge these rights. We just need to see them for ourselves. And when we do, we stop waiting for permission to live with more ease, wisdom, and clarity.

You are already free. Now go live like it.

Stay tuned for more on this. I have started creating a formal document in the form of a manifesto, including a printable poster if you so wish to hang on your wall to remind you of your rights.

Many blessings and love,

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