"A safe space is not a space where you stay the same. A safe space is a space of love, but what does love mean? Love can be confronting and it can feel even dangerous and threatening to some."
bell hooks also blessed me with a renewed revernce for love and its nuance nature.
You are both a balm and beautiful challenge. You challenge with thoughtful clarity, precision and care. Please, keep compelling and propelling is with your words.
Brilliant, you synthsized exactly what I feel. Thank you for this.
Comfort (capital C comfort) is not the same thing as true pain, trauma, loss, etc.... so therefore we can stand to be uncomfortable while also being safe and loved. We can be uncomfortable while fighting for change. We can all find ourselves safe even when we are challenged, or pushed to grow. "safe spaces" shouldn't be banal and pointless and sanitized --- they should be raw and loving and fierce. We need fierce love in this world today. We don't need Comfort if it denies us love.
I agree "safe spaces" are often code for "do not disturb the peace". Peace, happiness, comfort, joy are not fixed arrival spots but emotions to experience and then move on. We must feel into the entire human experience in order to grow. This includes rage, frustration, sorrow and defeat. There are far fewer spaces able to hold these kinds of responses. But, we are all still learning, seeking and evolving. Thanks for sharing.
Beautiful piece, thank you for this. So much of the work of growing safe within myself began with trusting I was putting myself in spaces where I could disagree and still know I am are deserving of love. Microdosing emotional risk. Also, I just added the road less traveled to my to-reads list.
Hell YES. Living in integrity means having to get comfortable with difficult and often confrontational conversations with people you love, but ultimately shows us what love really is, which you’ve articulated so well here. I want to bring people I love forwards with me and I want to be brought forwards by people who love me, with a calm and ever curious attitude. Thank you for this piece, I resonated so much with how you feel.
Every part of this resonated. Thank you. Every group I join, I know I will end up on the periphery. The closer to the center, the closer to the dogma and ruling personalities, and the less the questioning is welcomed. Rather quickly, and without even meaning to, I drift to the other misfits among the misfits, also existing mostly in individual relationships, each friendship having a unique pursuit.
I just read All About Love for the first time last year, but I think it deserves a reread now.
I really enjoyed reading this so much. Ps - I DO love the word “vibes” to be honest.
Also looooooved the bit all the way at the bottom of your post. About a future book perhaps? So excited !!!!!!
Le tue parole sono sempre piene di passione, amo l’energia che mi trasmettono e per questo ti ringrazio
Amazing piece Nadia.
"A safe space is not a space where you stay the same. A safe space is a space of love, but what does love mean? Love can be confronting and it can feel even dangerous and threatening to some."
bell hooks also blessed me with a renewed revernce for love and its nuance nature.
You are both a balm and beautiful challenge. You challenge with thoughtful clarity, precision and care. Please, keep compelling and propelling is with your words.
Brilliant, you synthsized exactly what I feel. Thank you for this.
Comfort (capital C comfort) is not the same thing as true pain, trauma, loss, etc.... so therefore we can stand to be uncomfortable while also being safe and loved. We can be uncomfortable while fighting for change. We can all find ourselves safe even when we are challenged, or pushed to grow. "safe spaces" shouldn't be banal and pointless and sanitized --- they should be raw and loving and fierce. We need fierce love in this world today. We don't need Comfort if it denies us love.
I agree "safe spaces" are often code for "do not disturb the peace". Peace, happiness, comfort, joy are not fixed arrival spots but emotions to experience and then move on. We must feel into the entire human experience in order to grow. This includes rage, frustration, sorrow and defeat. There are far fewer spaces able to hold these kinds of responses. But, we are all still learning, seeking and evolving. Thanks for sharing.
Hey, Nadia! Thank you for this introspective piece. 💛
Beautiful piece, thank you for this. So much of the work of growing safe within myself began with trusting I was putting myself in spaces where I could disagree and still know I am are deserving of love. Microdosing emotional risk. Also, I just added the road less traveled to my to-reads list.
Hell YES. Living in integrity means having to get comfortable with difficult and often confrontational conversations with people you love, but ultimately shows us what love really is, which you’ve articulated so well here. I want to bring people I love forwards with me and I want to be brought forwards by people who love me, with a calm and ever curious attitude. Thank you for this piece, I resonated so much with how you feel.
I felt so much with this piece. I felt anger, understanding, and love. Thank you. 🕊️
My bones resonated with this. Thank you for writing, for sharing.
Every part of this resonated. Thank you. Every group I join, I know I will end up on the periphery. The closer to the center, the closer to the dogma and ruling personalities, and the less the questioning is welcomed. Rather quickly, and without even meaning to, I drift to the other misfits among the misfits, also existing mostly in individual relationships, each friendship having a unique pursuit.
I just read All About Love for the first time last year, but I think it deserves a reread now.