Liam O’Dell: Celebrating my Freedom in a George Michael music video

“I think there’s something you should know”, mouths a model in the music video for George Michael’s hit single, Freedom! ’90. Thirty years later, and a group of inspirational young people are now lip-syncing these words and the rest of the lyrics in a brand new music video – and I am one of them.

A song famed for its themes of liberation and celebrating one’s identity, those behind the idea – known online as Freedom Project – were looking for individuals who had overcome challenges in their lives to find their own freedom. Alongside myself, there were other disabled people, LGBTQ+ folk and those celebrating body positivity.

In my case, however, freedom came in the form of exploring my deaf identity. After being told by an audiologist that I may benefit from hearing aids, back when I was a teenager, I initially hid the technology behind bushy hair and glasses. Confidence in my appearance – along with my self-esteem – pretty low at this point, and speaking honestly, finding out that I was going to have to wear another thing on my face came as quite the shock. I was left feeling isolated.

Yet, this didn’t stop me from wanting to find a community. I soon found people in my local area who were willing to connect and help me build up my sign language skills (which you can see on show in the music video), as well as friends on a national level through deaf charities. As my connections grew and my knowledge of sign language increased, my hair got shorter. Many years later, I’ve delivered a TEDx talk, presented a show on a community radio station, and much more.

Thinking back to when I was first told I needed hearing aids is a wild experience, but so too is looking back on my original interview clip from 2017, when the Freedom Project was initially meant to launch to the public. The Liam then was in his final year of university studying towards a journalism degree, and no doubt struggling with some of the pressure that can bring.

Now, having had a diagnosis of OCD earlier this year, I’m in a much better place mentally since then. I’ve also come out as asexual (experiencing little to no sexual attraction) and it’s been great exploring another new community. My work as a freelance journalist has improved, too, producing quite a few exclusives here on The Limping Chicken and on my own website.

It prompted my quote about ‘finding your own space to create without constraint’, which you can see in the official music video. Over the years, I’ve had several opportunities to try things out and make things without any limitations and little self-doubt. As someone who can be quite perfectionist, the chance to be creative in a truly messy sense really helps me to unwind – not least in the middle of the pandemic.

Listening to the song again now, I find it appeals to my urge to keep moving forwards, and improving myself along the way, and that, to me, is my freedom. What’s yours?

Photo: Sony Music.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is a mildly deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He wears bilateral hearing aids and can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.