WHAT IS SAFE? 2020

WHAT IS SAFE? 2020

<> Safe - what is safe? And what is my relationship to the concept of safety?

It’s kind of a trigger word for me since Doc was often stopping our fun due to safety concerns Trampoline? No, too unsafe. Swimming pool? Too unsafe. Fast boat motor? Safety again. It was his easy way out.

I wanted to be brave and do things and not quiver with fear over safety. I thought Doc was a bit chicken, and overly controlling. I didn’t like any of it!

Fast forward 40-50 years and what is safety to me now? Well, it has different connotations and it’s not just about me now. I drive carefully for me, sure, but also so I don’t injure anyone else.

Same with the current question of “to mask or not to make - that is the question”. If I wear a mask in a store, I hope it will stop me from inadvertently infecting someone else. And as a bonus, others may also FEEL safer around me. It’s safety as a community minded concept.

Other parts to safety are also corporal - having enough to eat and a dry warm place to sleep and health and access to medical care. Kind of like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs - the base, the beginning, the start of it all.

But safety also means in relation to our souls, our hearts, our need for belonging and love. Ironically, this lockdown has highlighted this need. One sees people singing on balconies in Italy; banging pots and pans in North America; volunteers delivering groceries to the compromised and vulnerable; people sewing mask and gowns for our medical people.