SEEKING SECURITY

Saskatchewan, Poet Laureate, Bruce Rice, offered a writing exercise in preparation for a workshop sponsored by the Prairie Quills. I took up the challenge. Name five things I love. The word love is bandied about so easily these days, identifying what things in my life evoked the greatest depth of the feeling proved hard work. I arrived at: Nature, Excellence, Feeling fully alive in the moment, Security, Family.

Do any on your list stand out in some way, Bruce asked – as a surprise, as a subject about which I’ve never written?

SECURITY vaulted over the others and stuck in my mind. Finding it in a list of things I loved astonished me.

Write a ten-line poem about this subject, Bruce assigned.

I let the words overflow, lifting them clear like a bucket raising water from a well. Phrases that made me feel, react, conclude gushed forth. Here is what I wrote about my love of security.

Less stress

More freedom

Safety in knowing

I have what I need.

Not just money, shelter, food

But strength and confidence

To win through if all is taken.

I have touched the icy fingers of death

Yet, the security of my will power

Keeps me living on.

 

Although I give thanks for security nightly listing a lot of the tangibles (food and shelter, clean air and water), and intangibles (freedom, love, independence), for the first time I examine the concept past the surface definition. I realize the characteristics, placed in me to draw upon by my creator, provide the greatest security. Inner strength, courage, resilience – I pick up and use under varying circumstances. Knowing I have and will draw on this wellspring of resources within, provides a greater sense of security.

The Corona virus and collapsing economy are eroding the sense of security of many people. Tangibles like housing, income, food – so necessary are slipping away. Losing those things cannot be taken lightly, but I hope you look past the loss and recognize a different type of security. Instead of replacing what is gone with fear, anxiety, anger and depression, draw upon your compassion, competence, patience, love, and shore up the sagging walls of your world with trust in yourself.