[2023-09-08] Feeling safe
In response to last night's post, a friend noted of her relationship with her partner: "Our mundane and often silly little rituals help to make me feel loved, safe, and content."
I took note of her choice of the word "safe." It's not a concept I think of often, perhaps because I am privileged to lead a life in which, by and large, I feel safe. When I wrote my priorities a year ago and added peace as a priority a month later, I never mentioned safety. I think I took it for granted.
And yet, safety is immensely important. In Maslow's hierarchy of needs (revised version), safety comes before love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization, and is second only to basic physiological needs.
We deserve to feel safe in our homes, communities, schools, workplaces. We deserve to feel safe when we pursue recreational activities, seek medical attention, move about our communities. We deserve to feel safe when we express who we are and share our truth.
Maya Angelou said: "The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned." Home should be a safe place.
For me, safety is a place where I can be myself, feel accepted, and have confidence that the people around me care about my well-being.
