To put yourself in someone else’s shoes and be able to understand the world from their point of view. That’s the basic meaning of empathy and, these days, it’s in short supply. We walk through life seeing everyone else as the dreaded “other” and not realizing they are us. We are all part of the same natural system.
The myth about empathy is that it means you have to agree with someone else. Not true. It simply means you just have to understand where they’re coming from and going to. It means you can look at another’s existence and see them as occupying the same part of the complex system of life that you yourself occupy.
It takes practice. It takes vigilance. It takes work and effort. Sometimes it’s a challenge to even remember what it is.
To have empathy is a beginning and not an end. It’s the start of a conversation, not the finish. And from it can come healing and growth. But damn it’s hard. It takes practice. It takes vigilance. It takes work and effort. Sometimes it’s a challenge to even remember what it is. That it’s there to use on a daily basis. It’s there for when you walk down the street and see a homeless woman and her child asking for money. And it’s really hard when you turn on the news and see all the anger and hate and violence in the world.
The powerful humanitarian, Elie Wiesel, who just recently passed said, “The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.” We overcome indifference with empathy. It’s really the only way.