Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Safety Needs
Halfway through the long season of Ordinary Time, September’s focus is on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. As I explained last week, Maslow was a humanist psychologist who constructed a hierarchy of needs. Basic needs include physiological needs, as addressed last week, and safety and security needs, which is this week’s topic.
Safety needs include health, personal security, financial security, job security, and safe environments. If you do not feel safe, if you have a lot of instability in your home life, then you will struggle with needs further up the hierarchy, like friendship and career advancement, until these security needs are met. Meeting the need for safety generally looks like stability.
When I wrote this poem about safety, I surprised myself by ending it addressing physiological needs. Yet that is how Maslow explained his hierarchy; the needs can overlap and be concurrent. If you lack security, then you may have difficulty meeting basic biological needs as well.
Home stretch
Home plate
Are you safe at home?
Are you safe at work?
No?
Did you report it?
Did your supervisor do anything?
I won’t say he didn’t care...
...but he didn’t do anything.
Listened.
But no advice.
No saying “Make sure you’re not ever alone with him.”
No saying, “Don’t put him in leadership.”
Except, it was always about power.
Harassment is always about power.
Abuse is always about power.
And those with it making sure that you feel powerless,
Regardless of whether that’s actually true.
And it’s never true.
You are never powerless.
You’ve heard, “Don’t let them steal your joy”?
Don’t let them steal your power.
Take it back.
Make hard decisions.
Hard decisions,
Unpopular decisions
Are worth your mental health and your sanity.
Jobs will come and go.
Your health will not.
It’s hard work to regain health once it’s been lost.
Sometimes impossible.
Sometimes not.
Where are you safe?
Where can you breathe?
I made decisions and concessions based on what I thought I needed to do to be employed as a Deacon and to support my family. I let them (the church power-lovers) take my authority. In the end it did not matter, and my life work was compromised as well as my family’s spiritual health. I hope others will heed your words.