Earlier this year, this poem was shared with me and immediately upon reading it, the message was felt, understood, and embraced. A safe space was an environment that I was craving for and I carried that desire to wanting that for my son in our home and for my students in my classroom.

There seemed to be something missing though; a component that left me feeling powerless over the noble idea. Safety. How can you create a safe space for a person or a group, when everyone’s perception of safety is different? You cannot guarantee safety. That is a humbling truth, especially if you are a parent or someone who is close with some of the most vulnerable people, children.

To me, a brave space is where we show up, unarmored and unapologetically ourselves. I believe that if others join this space and meet you at some level of bravery, that space can transform into one of respect, admiration, empathy, compassion, and grace.

I have found in myself and others, that the cloak that we wrap ourselves up to create safety where we felt none, can be so thick and so ingrained within our own very fabric that it may seem impossible to disentangle or even find where to begin. This is why I believe so much in the power of social and emotional learning. These skills, yes… skills that can be learned at any age are so vital to our mental, emotional and even physical well-being. Years of conditioning can be layered so heavily that we can lose sight of who we actually are. That is when we must listen to our gut, that is your inner voice, your true authentic self, speaking to you.

Self awareness is an emotional intelligence in which you are able to recognize your own thoughts, emotions and actions and the why behind them. This is a skill that you can acquire at any time, you just have to be open enough and brave enough to face the mirror. There is no doubt that the older we are, the more difficult this learning process can be. This truth is one of the reasons why I am so passionate about children learning these skills at a young age.

How can we begin to teach children these skills? My school year just began 10 days ago. One of the first things that I told my class was that we were a community, and in many ways a family. I explained to them what community agreements are and that I wanted for us to co-create the agreements within our classroom. I told them that while I may be the teacher, each and everyone of them had a voice and what they think and feel are valid. I told them that our classroom is one of mutual respect and that I needed to adhere to these agreements myself. I asked them to think about what their hopes and dreams were for the school this year and more importantly, what they needed to be able to accomplish them. This is what I got from my fifth graders, without any input from me…

This is how you create a space where people aren’t afraid to show up and be their perfectly imperfect selves, a brave space. 💜