Puffs Chain

True freedom is never free. We often live in the illusion of freedom: we confuse it with autonomy, with the ability to choose, but only among options others have laid out for us. But true freedom is neither comfortable nor reassuring. True freedom is dangerous. And like all true things, it comes at a price. Every truly free act has a price.And that price, almost always, is risk. The limit of our freedom is not defined by laws or dogmas, but by the last transaction we are willing to make: not always in money, but in responsibility, in solitude, in exposure, in loss. Being free means, first and foremost, renouncing. Renouncing the certainties built by others. Renouncing the protection of those who tell us what is right, where to go, who to be. Renouncing the need to please everyone, to be understood, to feel part of something. It’s a hard renunciation, because what reassures us often keeps us stuck. Like the wild donkey, which lives according to nature, master of itself, but vulnerable — and for this reason, it can end up prey to the lion. In contrast, the dog with a collar is fed, protected, cared for... but it wouldn’t survive a day without its master. It’s the price of safety: the renunciation of autonomy. So too do we: we move within this constant dilemma between freedom and protection. And often, without realizing it, we accept invisible collars just to feel safe. Freedom is uncomfortable, rough, dangerous. Not only is it hard to conquer — it’s even harder to maintain. Because every day, those who are free must choose for themselves, without a script, without guarantees. And perhaps it’s precisely this that distinguishes those who live as extras from those who choose to be protagonists. The protagonist is the one who doesn’t take refuge in “everyone does it.” The one who says “no” even while trembling. The one who walks the tightrope, accepting the risk of falling, just to avoid being nailed to the ground. Not because they are stronger, but because they cannot do otherwise. Because to truly live, without masters and without masks, is the only condition in which they can breathe.