What is a safe space?
Well that’s a puzzler? Truth is, I have no idea.
I think it is a poor choice of phrase. I don’t think it is a physical space at all, I think it is more about the people you surround yourself with, and the atmosphere that’s created when good people come together.
As daunting as Designs in Mind may have been, walking through that door for the first time, I was immediately made welcome. I was treated as valid. It had been so long since I had interacted with people, strangers or groups that I doubted everything I said or did. People were responding positively to me- not just the work I produced (I thought it was rubbish?) but to me as a person.
I started to feel comfortable in my own skin, i’d forgotten how that felt, soon I began to feel valid in myself.
So that’s what a safe space is to me. Somewhere I can be. Be myself. Be weird. Be vulnerable. Be awesome.
Over the next few months we are asking for more stories to explore what is a safe space? what does it mean to you? do you have this space in your life? what does it feel like? Is it important? How is it created?
Please get in touch to share your ideas- catherine (@) designsinmind.co.uk
#SocialEnterprise #MentalHealth #MentalHealthStigma #smashingstigma #OurStory #Shropshire #Oswestry