I am awake, I am alive, and this morning my thoughts dance with the idea of “safe spaces” and how much I love when I find them.

White men find them everywhere. There are few places they feel threatened or disrespected but for women and especially BIPOC women, the story is completely different.

I smile this morning as I realize that rarely do I register a space is safe until after I have visited. All promote they are but few make it so.

I can tell when I have found one however, for there I truly feel heard. Not necessarily agreed with but my thoughts and words are contemplated and considered as something valuable, something worth considering. That is rare.

Another indicator that I feel safe – the amount of sharing I do. I assume that means my spirit recognizes the safety before I do – bursting forth with words, emotions, experiences and the like – knowing, recognizing, feeling that here I am safe to be vulnerable.

That is the exact type of space I work diligently to create on my pages. I so appreciate those who contemplate my words, even if the concepts are new to them. I so appreciate the time these people take to ponder, considering the ideas I present as opposed to those that respond with ill-informed knee-jerk questions. And nowhere are words of condemnation allowed. Misinformation is corrected, respectfully, always in the hopes of change. But attacks, stereotypes and the like are not allowed, no matter who they are aimed at.

Today, my friend, I ask you to consider your spaces. Your meeting rooms (virtual or real), your home, your conversations, the venues you frequent – are they safe and do you contribute to making them safer?

It is the responsibility we each carry after all, to make our spaces safe for all. Silence is acceptance and I pray you never stay silent, that you are never okay with a space being unsafe even if it is for you.
 

I love you.
HUGSSSSSSSS
Sandi