….So I have looked a little too much after Tangier and the Fishery, and that in the sight of Mr. Coventry, but I have good reason to love myself for serving Tangier, for it is one of the best flowers in my garden….

I love the idea of ideas as flowers. They bloom and they die. Alas the idea of being Patient Representative for the Bristol Hospitals has today pretty much died. After eight months – about the time I started the diary – nothing has been forthcoming terms of a working relationship, terms of reference etc. Without a certain minimum level of chemistry I cannot see a way forward with the NHS so a ‘I have to regret to have to inform you….’ letter will going out, but not before I have written to the principle person asking if there is any progress. In any event I am not downhearted as I have done my best. The NHS is so ‘committee and rule’ bound and so does not fit my temperament that maybe parting is the best thing.

*****

What is a safe space?  A recovering alcoholic discovered he had a fear of crowds and a trust problem in general. He found he felt more able to discuss sensitive matters in the open air, in a field, in a garden.  He became enthused with he idea of nature as a healer and a refuge and subsequently took up gardening enthusiastically.

Psychotherapy and neuropsychological assessment office – would you consider this ‘safe’ or ‘safer’?

Retreating whether to bed or via alcohol only avoids the issue. ‘Safety’ in terms of avoiding any matter that will disturb or make us feel uncomfortable is encouraging us to revert to being a baby – reference the wave of Political Correctness that is sweeping our universities as well as the campuses on the USA.
Do you feel safer when you are in familiar territory?
What makes us all feel safe?
What do people need to say to make us feel safe?
If we felt safe when young, what caused us to start feeling unsafe?
Is the feeling of safety an illusion?

I have nothing else to write today so I will leave us all with these questions.

To me, fear is associated with mental or emotional situations, or the likely outlook of something. Being scared is more about the physical life. “I am scared of my father hitting me”, “scared of spiders”. The two words are related but scared seems to me a more immediate problem. ” I could not speak to her because I was too scared”
In the leaflet that came through to me from Centrepoint, stories of youngsters that are too scared to sleep out at night. A young lady is scared of what two drug addicts in the same room would do to her.