What does independence mean to you?

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"Independence" is one of those words that seem to have a lot of different meanings depending on who you talk to. I think of it as being able to live in a place that you can call your own (even if you share the place with other people...the key is that you voluntarily share the place with other people, and everybody is on equal footing) and being the person who makes the decisions about how you live your life given whatever options you have.

But to others, independence means more than than that...for example:

Some people might say you aren't independent if you aren't financially self-supporting (i.e. if you receive disability/welfare or assistance from family because you can't work full-time/can't work at all).

Some people might say you aren't independent if you need support to manage things like cooking, cleaning, budgeting, schoolwork/academics, major life decisions, organizing/scheduling/planning etc.

I'm just curious how other people define independence?

Like everything else, it depends.

A reasonable definition would be that I am able to live in my residence, eat what I want, come and go when I want, and to be able to obtain the financial resources to keep it that way, within reasonable boundaries.

Boom or bust by your own choices.

Ironically I think far to many people think in financial terms, I think this however can lead to people not making choices for themselves, and simply going with the safe bet.

You need to take risks as an aspie, because so much of the better aspects of life are completely hidden.

Being independent to me means I can look after myself without needing anyone else helping me. Asking for help is something I always consider a last resort. I guess I've always needed to feel like I can manage on my own. That I can do better on my own. I don't like the idea of being a burden on anyone. I think for me it's basically a survivalist mentality. If I weren't so urbanized, I might be one of those guys who goes off into the wilderness and lives off the land.

And to tell the truth, I really don't have much any other choice but to be independent. Like someone else said, to me personally when I'm dependent on someone else, it's like I'm at their mercy. There's an old song that says, "people who need people are the luckiest people in the world". I'm no so sure about that myself.

Thanks very much for sharing your definitions, perspectives and experiences

There's a strong common thread that runs through all of them, I think...something like "having control of and freedom in your own life".