John Locke was born in a small thatched cottage in 1632, Wrington, England, 10 years prior to the beginning of the English Civil War. Locke was a physician, politician, and philosopher during the Enlightenment period.

During his early years, he was sent to the prestigious Westminster School in London to begin his education. After completing his studies at Westminster, he went on to Christ Church, Oxford, where he obtained his undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Medicine, and then completed his Masters.

Locke's had three significant philosophical theories that really stood out to me, which I believe had a significant impact on today's society and a profound perspective on life. They were “Tabula Rasa”, natural rights, and religious tolerance. He had a variety of conceptual views on life, government, individualism, and the pursuit of maintaining a societal model in which there is no dictator or group of hierarchical leaders to create files and boundaries that confine people into an inability to express themselves: Who they wish to become? What they wish to believe in? How they wish to live their lives?

Tabula Rasa is a philosophical concept that he developed, in which he believed that everyone was born as a "blank slate," meaning all of our knowledge and understanding are shaped and formed through our experiences and interactions with the world around us. I have spoken with many people on various occasions about how vulnerable and innocent our children are, and the incredible power we as parents possess in dictating the direction of ideologies, values, moral compass, and understanding of the world. It is how we deliver our messaging and how they perceive it that develops who they become.

The Natural State philosophy outlines the emphasis on how individuals in their natural state are free and equal, with inherent rights to life, liberty, and property. We are all entitled to be who we wish to become without any preconceived rules or constraints around what our government or local communities believe is how we should be. In this day and age, government, communities, various famous and/or senior leaders, and social media create these images of what we all should be, how we should have and behave, how we should grow, what direction we should take, and what the best pursuit of excellence looks like. There is not a one-size-fits-all, and no one has the right to dictate what our natural state is and what truly makes us happy.

Locke also believed in religious tolerance, asserting that the government should not interfere with individuals' freedom to practice their own religion, as long as it does not harm others or threaten public peace. This coincides with my elaboration of the natural state. Locke was an advocate for individualism and that we should all be allowed to be who, what, and why we are. Our religion is irrelevant, and anyone has the right to be whoever they wish to be.

He was an influential philosopher who helped establish freedom of expression, individualism, and the ability to live under any religious sect, without fear of persecution. He was an important figure in establishing and understanding who, what and why we are, who we are, and subsequently the world has evolved to help all people be, who they wish to be, and that is an incredibly important step in the search for happiness .

Thanks,

Dean