“We learn too late because no one taught us soon enough. Let this be the generation that teaches before the harm.” Comfort feels nice. Safety keeps
“We learn too late because no one taught us soon enough.
Let this be the generation that teaches before the harm.”
Comfort feels nice.
Safety keeps you alive.
Too often, women and girls are encouraged to stay “comfortable” — to smile, to be kind, to give the benefit of the doubt.
But comfort can make us ignore the voice inside that says, “Something isn’t right.”
🕊️ Comfort asks:
Will they like me if I speak up?
Am I making things awkward?
I don’t want to seem mean or paranoid.
Comfort can be quiet, polite, and dangerous.
🔥 Safety asks: (a far wiser voice)
Who has power here?
Who protects me if I’m harmed?
Is this system built to keep women safe, or to silence us?
Safety is honest.
Safety is sometimes uncomfortable.
But safety is sacred.
💬 What We Must Teach — Before the Harm
Teach girls to honor the uneasy feeling.
That feeling is not rudeness or fear — it’s wisdom.
Teach women that peace built on silence is not peace.
If you must shrink to stay safe, you are not safe.
Teach institutions that prevention is protection.
A single complaint is a red flag, not an inconvenience.
Teach men that respecting boundaries is the measure of character, not charm.
Teach each other to intervene early, not after headlines.
🌕 Closing Light
We must shift the world from reaction to education.
From “why didn’t she leave?” to “why didn’t we teach her to recognize danger before it grew?” “Why didn’t we respond before it grew?”
If we teach safety early, we interrupt generations of grief.
If we light the path before the harm, we save more than ourselves — we save the next woman walking behind us.