Empathy
noun
1) the psychological identification with or vicarious experiencing of the emotions, thoughts, or attitudes of another.
She put an arm around her friend’s shoulders and stood by her in silent empathy.
2) the imaginative ascribing to an object, as a natural object or work of art, feelings or attitudes present in oneself.
By means of empathy, a great painting becomes a mirror of the self.
For many years I was, and sometimes still can be, a very self centered person. Everything was always about me. Usually colored by my many resentments. I had exactly zero empathy, or any real identification, for other people. It was aways about my perception of things and how I thought that things affected me.
As a friend of mine used to say, It is always about me and usually in the worst possible way.
And it was always filtered through how I felt about it. Which was almost always in the most negative way possible to feel about things.
As a result I could never have any empathy for another. I could fake sympathy, which is NOT the same thing, and even that had no real basis in reality. My fake sympathy was, most of the time, a manipulation technique designed to get me what I wanted.
And I was really angry. A lot. I was never angry at me. I was always angry at "them". Them being a rotating cast of people, places, situations, and organizations. I was never responsible. It was always them.
So here I am, Angry all the time, Blaming others for everything, and taking no Responsibility for my life at all. There was no possibility of Empathy, or even sympathy, at all. For I had no real connection to the Human Race while in that state.
The beginning of breaking that wall of Self Centeredness was going to Recovery meetings and being able to Identify with the people who were sharing.
And for me Identification is when another tells the Truth about themselves and I can hear the Truth about My Self within their sharing.
And as I continued to attend meetings, and was able to identify with people, very slowly the walls of Self Centeredness began to crumble. Very slowly. It is an ongoing process.
And as my self centeredness began to diminish I began to feel with other people. To be able to feel as they did and know that it was truth and not a manipulation.
As time went on I began to see that I had developed this thing that I only later realized was Empathy.
And I noticed that Empathy has some very distinct characteristics:
- Empathy Feels. Intensely.
- Empathy is not loud. It is quiet.
- Empathy does no emote for show.
- Empathy demands nothing in return.
- Empathy does not fix or condemn.
- Empathy has no requirements.
- Do You feel intensely?
- Are you quiet?
- Are you able to keep your emotions quiet to others?
- Do you feel without expectation?
- Are you able to just Be with people?
WELOME!!!
We need more empaths.
A huge part of the problem in this Nation, and World, today is that there has been a concerted effort, very well funded by some very wealthy people, to divide us and convince everyone that Empathy is a weakness.
I say to you that Empathy is really a Super Power. A very uncomfortable one until one gets past all of our Societal programming and becomes comfortable with it. And a Super Power none the less.
And what Empathy does for us as Human Beings is pretty phenomenal as well. It connects people into larger communities.
And that, my Dear friends, is what can save us all.
Community.
And we cannot have Community without Empathy.
And we will all perish without Empathy and Community.
So, do you want to continue in this World where we are all divided into our little segments constantly in a manufactured war with each other where we are continuing to destroy ourselves and everything around us?
Or do you want to live in a World where we have Empathy for others and a Community that works for everyone where we pull together for common goals and support each others aspirations?
Now is the time to choose.
There is No More Time.
So choose.
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