Free from freedom

I heard an interview with the Swedish author Per Hagman.

As a new parent, he explained that nights out and similar activities no longer appealed to him. He described it as being “free from freedom”.

Even though I’m not a parent, I understand the feeling.

It’s one of the reasons I’m not so fond of Swedish summers. People go a bit crazy! They have to sit at outdoor cafés and in parks all the time.

I love having a coffee at an outdoor café or enjoying a picnic in the park — in moderation. But that typical Swedish moderation (we even have a word for it: lagom) completely disappears when summer arrives. The expression “lagom is best” is suddenly replaced by a collective “more is more”.

Freedom has somehow turned into a prison.