Safety

 I follow this website called Figment that sends out daily creative writing posts. I really liked the one below, which was sent out early last week, so I thought I would post it on here! I'd love to get feedback on this one - so feel free to post a comment with a time YOU felt utterly safe. Thanks for reading!

Describe a time in your life when you felt utterly safe--emotionally, spiritually, physically. Where were you? Who were you with? What were the circumstances? And what ultimately made that feeling of complete security go away?

The most recent time I can remember feeling utterly safe was with a friend of mine. He and I had become close over the course of just a couple of weeks, and he often spent time at my house, just to spend time with me. After 2011, a hard year for me, I was glad to have found someone who seemed to so completely understand and appreciate me, simply for who I am.


I felt safe emotionally because I felt like I could tell him anything - and he wouldn't judge me. My life was an open book, and when my darkest secrets came pouring out, he simply wiped my tears and told me I was an amazing person despite my past. It was mesmerizing, his ability to make me feel better. Can you imagine getting to the point with someone who you don't have to feel ashamed in front of? Anything I told him was taken in stride, and he made me remember that although the emotional turmoil of my past has defined me as a person, it does not define me in the life I lead from this moment on.


Spiritually, I felt safe because he and I shared a lot of the same beliefs. There were aspects of my religion that I had grown up with but that I didn't have anyone to share with until he came into my life. If was comforting to know that again, I couldn't scare him off because I was passionate about living a good life.


Finally, I felt physically safe because he could just hug me and the world would melt away. It was as if for that moment I could be fully absorbed into him and let go of all my fears, worries, and stress. He was my stress ball, my pillow to scream into, and my shoulder to rest my head on when a nightmare made sleep impossible. It was amazing, his warmth and kindness could comfort me in any moment of tension.


That feeling of security was taken away when he left. And I had to learn the hard way that even when things could seem so good, they can end in the blink of an eye. I had to learn that trust, so hard to give, can be given to the wrong people and you can feel like a fool for being honest.


But honestly, if I could go back and change anything in the time that I grew so close to him, I wouldn't. I wouldn't stop being me. I wouldn't stop being honest. And I wouldn't stop myself from feeling utterly safe.