ad libertatem

 
 
 

About me

My name is Leon Johnson. I am a son, a brother, a husband, a friend, an engineer, a traveler, a philosopher and an artist.

I started this website as a mechanism to explore my freedom of creative expression, as I navigate through my 30s. Through it, I hope to:

  1. Adapt the discipline that is necessary to generate creative flow

  2. Nurture and develop my abstract ideas on living a virtuous life of meaning, freedom and happiness

  3. Learn the art of story-telling through writings, photography, music and videos

You will find that the general themes of my articles on this website center around ‘ad libertatem’, a call to live for freedom and to seek Beauty in Life.

I hope that the words that I write for myself, those you will find on this website, can find some purpose in your lives, the same way they have given purpose to mine.

“If you want to become whole, let yourself be partial. If you want to become straight, let yourself be crooked. If you want to become full, let yourself be empty. If you want to be reborn, let yourself die. If you want to be given everything, give everything up.”

- Lao Tzu

 

“Life is a Story. Make it beautiful.”

- H.O.

The Journal

Journal
Rawness of Life.
Philosophy, Beauty
Rawness of Life.
Philosophy, Beauty

There is a somewhat elusive feeling that I  sometimes get the opportunity to experience, especially during my travels to places that are engrained with rich cultures and harmony with nature; an experience that I am only starting to scratch the surface in understanding. It is an experience that fills my spirit with fire -  an intense excitement to be a part of the present moment, the nostalgic curiosity of Life from my childhood, seeing magnificence that I could not explain unfold in front of me, a blissful assurance that Beauty is in fact an inherent quality of the substrate that is our existence.  It is an experience that I call the Rawness of Life.

Philosophy, Beauty
On Oneness
Philosophy, Oneness
On Oneness
Philosophy, Oneness

I want to reflect today on this idea of “Us” versus “Them”. Why do these divisions exist? And are these divisions simply an inherent reality of life that make us doomed to the resulting conflict among us? Or is there another reality that can be taught, perceived and adopted, in the hope of making this world a more beautiful place for us, and more importantly, for our kids to live in? The reality that we are all indeed One?

Philosophy, Oneness
When You’re Gone.
Poetry
When You’re Gone.
Poetry

How can I feel that your presence is here
While you breathe the air in a place nowhere near?
As I close my eyes, I reflect on a thought
Of all that you are and all you are not.

Poetry
On Beauty.
Philosophy, Beauty
On Beauty.
Philosophy, Beauty

I've been reflecting a lot on the importance of living a Beautiful Life over the past year and have discussed this topic in a number of my previous essays. There has been an assumption on my part that the word Beauty is well defined and requires no further explanation. Upon deeper thought, however, I think this is a mistake as we generally tend to use the word "Beauty" in the most superficial manner to express the extent of our preferences. It would be lazy of me to be satisfied with this idea when my own experiences tell me that it is something so much deeper than that. So in this essay, I want to take some time to explore the concept of Beauty in more detail. What is Beauty and what does it mean for something to be Beautiful? What are the ingredients required to live a Beautiful Life?

Philosophy, Beauty
The Lantern
Poetry
The Lantern
Poetry

In each of us, there is a small light that we can find, if we look deep enough, that has the power to give us the little spark that we need to keep moving on, even on the bleakest journeys.

Poetry
On Suffering.
Philosophy, Suffering
On Suffering.
Philosophy, Suffering

I often think about the concept of Suffering. Perhaps it's because a lot of my perspectives on Life center around the idea of making it as beautiful as we can, when in reality, Life is just as much about misfortunes and grief as it is about beauty. What is Suffering as it relates to the human experience and is there any meaning in it at all?

Philosophy, Suffering
Give me Time.
Poetry
Give me Time.
Poetry

A poem reflecting on the things I always take for granted, yet need to focus more on, with the remaining time that I have.

Poetry
Forgiveness is Love.
Thoughts
Forgiveness is Love.
Thoughts

You need to forgive.

Thoughts
On Success.
Philosophy
On Success.
Philosophy

I often think about what it means to be Successful in life, and in particular, what Success would look like in my own life.

I understand that this question can seem unnecessarily vague, so, to distill it down, what I really mean is - which of Life's multitude of experiences, if I could measure them, would I try to optimize to consider myself Successful?

Philosophy
Conscious Selection.
Philosophy, Beauty
Conscious Selection.
Philosophy, Beauty

It's important that we identify the traits and values that we find desirable in the world around us and consciously work towards adopting these while discipling ourselves to block out the ones we don't. This is something I call Conscious Selection.

Philosophy, Beauty