{"id":5,"date":"2011-11-13T22:08:39","date_gmt":"2011-11-13T22:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/?p=5"},"modified":"2011-11-16T20:54:25","modified_gmt":"2011-11-16T20:54:25","slug":"welcome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2011\/11\/welcome.html","title":{"rendered":"Welcome"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi, there! I am glad you have joined me.<\/p>\n

Welcome to “A Safe Place”. I hope you find this a place you can be yourself and I can be myself. Like two old friends over a cup of coffee. (But I don’t drink coffee – it jacks me up – I drink mint tea.)\u00a0Perhaps we can define “a safe place<\/span>” as just that – being able to be yourself with no fear of rejection or or condemnation. I think we all long for a place where we feel<\/span> we belong and \u00a0and feel safe. I know I do.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Think about what makes a safe place for you. Is it being with a special person? Or in your favorite room? Or a certain place? I like to call my home my sanctuary. And when people ask me where is my favorite place of all the places I have traveled I always say, “home”. I love to be in my home. I am really a homebody – boring – but accurate! I have always said I’d like to stay home and bake cookies! My friends guffaw at this because I have such a busy schedule. But I come home to fill up and feel renewed. It’s quiet. I am surrounded by my books and the things I love. \"\"<\/a>My friends feel free to come by – and especially my grandchildren. (You’ll probably hear a lot about my grandchildren – I am a very proud grandmother of 8!) The picture is of one of my safe spaces.<\/p>\n

So what are safe places? Perhaps there are all sorts of safe places. \u00a0Does a safe place have to be a physical place. What does it mean to be safe? Free from fear and anxiety? Feeling protected? Secure?\u00a0Can we feel anxious and still feel safe? What makes us feel safe?<\/p>\n

Let’s begin the conversation. I’m looking forward to it. And remember this is a safe place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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