Thursday, January 10, 2008

Wearing White
After Labor Day

I'm certain that your mother told you it isn't proper to wear white after Labor Day. Why has no one told her?

Such a pretty creature. Quiet and alert. She appears very calm here, but if those wonderful ears catch the slightest hint that she isn't safe, she is gone. She knows that she is prey, and she lives her life accordingly. When in danger, run very fast. And not in a straight line.

It's too bad that we don't always have her good sense. Sometimes we train her wisdom out of our daughters. We teach them that if they don't feel safe, they mustn't insult anyone by acting like it.

Well, worrying about someone else's feeling doesn't keep us safe. Being willing to run or scream or fight and be more concerned with our own needs than the possible feelings of a person who we find threatening, does.

So, let's teach our children, daughters and sons alike, to stay safe. To pay attention to their fears and to react quickly. To run and scream loudly if they must. Let's teach them that it is better to be safe than to spare some one's feelings.

4 comments:

Kid Sister said...

Granny, I feel the same way, and it's odd that this post should come up now. I've just had to recognize a shift in my own sense of safety after Meredith Emerson was killed not far from my home here in GA. It breaks my heart that we've been taught to reason away our instincts for self-preservation. I just wrote a post about it.

And by the way, I've had you blogrolled for about a year now. :)

J said...

Maya took a self defense class when she was little where the instructor told them the most important thing they could do in any situation was to pay attention to their stomach. If it felt funny about a person or a situation, pay attention, and try to get away from that person or situation, by whatever means necessary.

I loved him for that.

J said...

Angela, I tried to click over to read your blog, but I'm not allowed with the link provided. :(

Tabor said...

I don't think I can take credit, but my daughter has always been outspoken and not afraid to come to her own defense if she thinks someone has invaded her personal territory. I was not that way when I was young.