Shantigarbha explores safety as a universal need and distinguishes the need for safety from the strategies we use to meet it. Through stories from a maximum-security prison and an exploration of self-empathy, resilience, and choice, he considers how inner connection can contribute to a sense of psychological and emotional safety. This NVC Life Hack invites us to recognize our needs, expand our choices, and develop greater resilience when we encounter words or actions that trigger us.

Helen Keller, a famous US disability rights activist, said, “Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” I imagine that most people nowadays would disagree with Helen Keller, and regard safety or security as both a physical and psychological need. But what is the truth of the matter: is safety or security a need?