The phrase “a liberated life” pops up quite a bit on this website, so every once in a while I like to take some time to explain what I’m talking about. I thought a wonderful way to illustrate the concept would be to create a “Liberated Life Hall of Fame” – showcasing the people who embody this idea to me and inspire me.

Some are alive, some have passed on. As I thought about what all of these folks have in common, here’s what I see:

• Each has examined and freed her or himself from limiting beliefs, both internally and in relationship to their social environment.

• Each has created a life full of vibrant and creative possibility.

• Each was (or is) dedicated to something larger than the small “self,” whether that be one’s art or craft, a cause, or something else.

So here are my picks for the Liberated Life Hall of Fame (in no particular order). These are the people I meditate upon when I need to anchor myself more firmly in freedom.

Who would be on your list? Leave a comment at the bottom to let us know your nominees!

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Nelson Mandela

After his involvement with anti-apartheid groups in South Africa, Nelson was imprisoned for 27 years. Think of that – 27 long years. And yet when he was released in 1990 he had released all bitterness toward his captors and devoted his energy to reconciliation efforts and establishing democracy in his country. An amazing feat by an incredible man.

Liberation quote:
For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

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Aung San Suu Kyi

Like Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi also spent years imprisoned by an oppressive political regime and yet came out of the experience firmly rooted in her own power and compassion. This past year, Suu Kyi won a seat in the Myanmar parliament where she continues to exemplify what true freedom means.

Liberation quote:
Saints, it has been said, are the sinners who go on trying. So free men and women are the oppressed who go on trying and who in the process make themselves fit to bear the responsibilities and uphold the disciplines which will maintain a free society.

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Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor’s life was revolutionary because she refused to be ‘just’ the wife of a president. She established herself as a strong advocate for civil rights and was deeply involved in drafting the Universal Declaration for Human Rights. Time after time, Eleanor faced challenging circumstances in her personal life and used them to pour energy into her good works in the world.

Liberation quote:
Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure. You have no security unless you can live bravely, excitingly, imaginatively; unless you can choose a challenge instead of competence.

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Viktor Frankl

Viktor was a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp who was able to find meaning to life even in the face of the most dire suffering. His wife, mother, and father all died in the camps. He went on to write about his experiences in the book Man’s Search for Meaning and to integrate them into his work as a psychotherapist.

Liberation quote:
Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.

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Audre Lorde

Audre was the daughter of immigrants from the Caribbean nation of Grenada. Her life was a testament to authenticity; she blazed her own trail as a “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet.” Not long before her death from cancer in 1992, she took on a new name: Gambda Adisa, which means “Warrior: She Who Makes Her Meaning Known.”

Liberation quote:
When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.

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His Holiness the Dalai Lama

His Holiness may be the world’s most famous Buddhist monk, but he is also completely unassuming, spontaneous, and real. He has had to face huge obstacles in his life, yet he remains compassionate and good-humored. His Holiness meditates for at least 5 hours every day… that no doubt helps!

Liberation quote:
Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings.

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Georgia O’Keeffe

This American painter was a true original. Decades before women had access to art training in America’s colleges, and before any women artists were well known, Georgia created her vocation as an artist and stayed true to that calling. An iconoclast in art and life, she continually broke out of commonly accepted genres to forge new pathways.

Liberation quote:
I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life – and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.

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Martin Luther King, Jr.

There is no way that I could not include MLK on this list. To me, he is the embodiment of someone who devoted his life to freedom, in every sense of the word. Martin’s journey from Baptist preacher to spokesperson for the Civil Rights movement, and his growing awareness that his activism had to encompass every threads of liberation in all areas of life, make him a shining star in this hall of fame.

Liberation quote:
Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

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Katharine Hepburn

Kate went against the grain of her profession and the social conventions of her time. In 1938, she was labeled “box office poison,” so she responded by buying out her own contract and proceeding to make “The Philadelphia Story.” Kate refused to get married even though that was expected of women of her time, wore pants before it was fashionable for women to do so, and was outspoken on many issues throughout her life.

Liberation quote:
The thing about life is that you must survive. Life is going to be difficult, and dreadful things will happen. What you do is move along, get on with it, and be tough. Not in the sense of being mean to others, but being tough with yourself and making a deadly effort not to be defeated.

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Jane Goodall

A woman who left a comfortable life in England to work and live among the chimpanzees and other primates of Africa, a scientist who values the mystical, an animal researcher who works for a better world for human beings as well… all of these are the essence of Jane Goodall. Jane was not afraid to break the scientific convention of her time by giving individual monkeys in her studies names rather than numbers – reflecting her deeply held value of the sacredness of all life.

Liberation quote:
There are different ways of looking out and trying to understand the world around us. There’s a very clear scientific window. And it does enable us to understand an awful lot about what’s out there. There’s another window, it’s the window through which the wise men, the holy men, the masters, of the different and great religions look as they try to understand the meaning in the world. My own preference is the window of the mystic.

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