There is no safety anywhere

(originally posted Saturday, May 5, 2007)

That is something I truly believe. We spend so much of our energy trying to be safe, and trying to make things safer. We avoid taking any risks, protecting ourselves and our families. We are willing to give up so very much for safety. But safety is an illusion.
The reason I believe so is that we live in a capricious universe.
A number of years ago, a young girl of about 15 was in the stairwell of her high school, in between classes along with a large number of other students. According to witnesses, a bright, glowing ball dropped through the ceiling and down the back of her blouse. The upper half of her body burst into flame. After the fire was extinguished she was rushed to hospital where she died of third degree burns. Based on eyewitness description and expert analysis, the medical examiner decided she’d been killed by ball lightening.
I’m sure her parents, her teachers, and she felt she was perfectly safe where she was. But we cannot foresee all dangers, and I doubt ball lightening is on anyone’s radar. Many other freak accidents occur on a regular basis. My point is this: no matter how safe we think we are, there will always be dangers. So, it is important not to be inordinately cautious.
Counsellors at colleges and universities say they are seeing increasing numbers of young people who cannot deal with living away from their parents. Protected and kept from all risk until they reach 18, they drop out and return home, unable to cope with standing on their own two feet. Meanwhile, other counsellors tell of young people deliberately courting danger, taking stupid risks. They say they do it to feel alive. Background checks reveal they were forbidden from taking any risks as children.
Risk is a part of being alive. When we try to avoid all risks, what we are avoiding is real life. A fear of death is, at its core, a fear of living. Trying to maximize safety makes us miss out on many meaningful parts of life. Just as the price of never risking having your heart broken is never having dared to love, the price of trying to never experience any physical risk is never having dared to live.
Meanwhile, the pursuit of safety results in tremendous amounts of misdirected energy. In the United States, for instance, many people insist they need to be armed to protect themselves. Yet, an estimated thirty-thousand U.S. citizens are killed by gunshot every year. That is more than an average year’s fatal car accidents plus all the U.S. personnel who have died in Iraq, plus all of the people who died on 9/11. And yet, all the public focus and energy goes toward border security.
I do not mean that it is okay to be reckless or imprudent. We are well advised to take steps to minimize real danger, things like wearing seatbelts when driving, or not walking alone through a dangerous area at night. But we need to remember that there really is no way to be safe from all harm. To live our lives, we must face our fears, and accept such risks as cannot be avoided in living a full and meaningful life.
For many years I have tried to let myself be guided by these words:
The is no safety, and there is no end. The word must be heard in silence; there must be darkness to see the stars. The dance is always danced above the hollow place, above the terrible abyss. – Ursula K. LeGuin; The Farthest Shore.