Stillness 7-14: Unsurprisingly, the most popular goodbye we tell each other nowadays is “be safe.” The word safe originated from our proto-Indo-European root of sol which meant “whole, well-kept.” The Old French sauf meant protected, watched-over, related to the Latin salvus—“in good health.” In the 1300s, to be safe meant to be unhurt, uninjured, unkilled; free from danger. The word also embraced the spiritual aspect of salvation: to be healed, to be redeemed, to be saved.
These are all good things, I suppose, but sometimes that farewell injunction of “be safe!” immediately reminds us that we’re not. It jolts our ever-vigilant amygdala into action. It warns us to be on guard.
I know people want to use “be safe” like a blessing. They think they’re saying something like “be well” or “have a good day,” but as soon as I hear the words “be safe,” I feel unsafe. There’s too much fear around already. The child within me needs reassurance more than anxiety. Yes, we’ll act responsibly, put on seatbelts, wear masks, and look both ways before crossing the street—these are commonsensible things to do. They simply make sense, with no emotion attached. But to be reminded to “be safe” adds an unnecessary emotional component to what ought to be as straightforward as brushing our teeth.
“Be sound” resonates differently. I like it. To be sound in mind and body connotes health and well-being rather than fear and worry. Sound is a beautiful word, and it means a lot of things. The Old English word gesund had to do with health and well-being. The Old French word son meant a noise, a musical note, a voice. These Teutonic-Romantic meanings have combined into the meanings for “sound” that we use today: We are of sound mind and body and we also hear sounds through our ears.
Through the centuries, the word vibrated outward into many usages. When we sleep soundly, we sleep solidly, undisturbed. When we have sound opinions they are generally acceptable to most people. To be sound meant to be right, correct, free from error. It also meant to be financially secure. A sound is also a channel of swimmable water. And if we sound something out, we’re trying to fathom it or probe it deeply.
Instead of reminding each other to be safe and “unkilled,” let’s remind each other to be full of good vibrations, to deeply resonate with our musical, healthy, harmonious, happy selves, to be sound.