there is something clarifying about asserting your freedom to hold a position, even an extreme one. It can help you to perceive the future more clearly. Otherwise, you might view that position as too dangerous to explore. It’s the upside to our culture’s complicated emphasis on assertiveness and rights in family relations: You don’t like it? You’re free to go. Sometimes just affirming that truth to yourself or to the other gives you power. And once a position is clarified, it’s easier to know whether you want to act on it or not.
