Beyond Your Door: Practical Strategies for Everyday Safety
My previous article focused on improving your home’s security. However, no matter how secure your home feels, there are times when you need to leave for work, grocery shopping, or a night out with loved ones.
While A LOT is going on out there, humans are social creatures, and we need that physical interaction. Even the most introverted of us (and I am one of those) crave a human touch; we miss being face-to-face and receiving a big hug from someone we love. 2020 showed that while some of us handled the isolation better than others, we couldn’t wait to hold someone close and have those in-person conversations that had been limited to calls, texts, and video chats. Could you imagine what it would have been like without the Internet? There will be no Internet when the SHTF. It seems easier to ration food and water than to go without the Web!
Times have not been more disheartening and scary for women. I talk about this on my latest podcast episode, The Manosphere is Dangerous Right Now, I wanted to dedicate one blog specifically to things we can do to feel safer as we go out. We want to reclaim and enjoy our social lives to the fullest extent. While I believe in being cautious, I absolutely do not believe in living in fear. There’s a lot to fear right now, but we can’t rob ourselves of what beauty exists in the world and in our lives based on what-ifs. That may seem contradictory to my blog and podcasts, but ultimately, both aren’t about demise; it’s about living your best life but being ready for the worst.
You may have heard the term “situational awareness”*. As women, we still tend not to be present when we travel. Whether it’s to the bank or to another country, we’re either mentally preoccupied or otherwise not observant of what’s going on around us. This can be dangerous. I worry when I see women who run or hike with headphones on. Women who still walk alone at night with ponytails. Women who don’t pay attention to who’s following them, watching them, and not being thoughtful about where they parked. The trade-off for going where we want when we want is to sacrifice something that would make the experience blissful. I would love to live in a world where a woman could jog with a ponytail and headphones and not be attacked from behind because she couldn’t hear him coming, and he used her ponytail like a handle. I would love to live in a world where we can park in a lot and not worry that someone has been watching and waiting to pounce. I would love to live in a world where a young girl can get off the bus from school and walk a few blocks to her house while chatting on her phone and not worry about being attacked. Until that world appears, remember, just because you can doesn’t mean you should. And if you must, be aware of what’s happening around you.
Read on for my tips to stay safe while out and about! https://urbanladyprepper.substack.com/p/beyond-your-door-practical-strategies?r=53ynfj