I’m a blunt person. So no disrespect to 2025, but it is not at all living up to my expectations. This year started out rocky when the majority of the country decided to elect a convicted felon as our president. Then, the administration censored reproductive rights resources. And more recently, our national parks are being defunded. Needless to say, my hope levels are low. But a new TikTok trend has restored some light and levity into my world, reminding me that I still have control over the small things in life.
A quick scroll on the clock app, and you’ll find users posting clips of themselves remembering they have “free will” and choosing to do something that brings them joy. A few of my favorites: this girl sipping matcha through a crazy straw for kids, “Victorious” star Daniella Monet biting into an entire cucumber, and this icon who purchased a massage table so that her husband could give her spa treatments during her luteal and menstrual phases. (I’ll be exercising that last use of free will myself, ASAP).
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Natalie Jones, PsyD, is a licensed psychotherapist and advisory board member for PS’s Condition Center.
So why is free will trending? It could just be your standard trend-cycle coincidence, but my hunch is that everyone is looking for small ways to feel more in control of their lives right now. As our days become increasingly inundated with the negative (e.g., news, politics, natural disasters), exercising free will is an easy way to tap into the positive.
It’s a reminder that within each of our individual lives, there are no rules.
“I think it’s empowering, and it allows people to feel more confident in their ability to make choices for themselves,” says Natalie Jones, PsyD, licensed psychotherapist and advisory board member for PS’s Condition Center. “It empowers a person to believe that they are in control of creating the life that they want, and that they don’t have to do or expose themselves to anything that they don’t want to.”
Dr. Jones tries to emphasize this ideology within her therapy style, Rogerian therapy. “Essentially, the premise of that style of therapy is that clients know the decisions that they want to make in life; however, they are reluctant to make them because they feel like they need approval or reassurance,” she explains. “While I support my clients, I also assure them that they can make decisions without anyone’s approval. I find that this style of therapy helps with alleviating oppression that clients face.”
In other words: the free will trend is therapist-approved. It’s safe, it’s freeing, and it can open your eyes and world up to the opportunities and small pleasures that we are desperately craving right now. It’s a reminder that within each of our individual lives, there are no rules. Joy and grief can coexist. And life is hard enough without you being hard on yourself.
So the next time you’re feeling out of sorts with the world, focus on small pleasures you can control. Paint your room that plum color you bookmarked on Pinterest. Eat the cinnamon roll for breakfast. Buy that walking pad you “don’t have space for.”
Lean into free will – and hopefully the rest of your world will start to feel a little less restricting, too.
Alexis Jones is the senior health and fitness editor at PS. Her areas of expertise include women’s health and fitness, mental health, racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare, and chronic conditions. Prior to joining PS, she was the senior editor at Health magazine. Her other bylines can be found at Women’s Health, Prevention, Marie Claire, and more.
