Empathy as a concept is pretty easy to grasp, but it can be difficult to practice. It takes thought and intention to truly grasp the feelings and experiences of another person.
Resources
This webpage from Loyola University in New Orleans highlights what empathy is and ways that we can implement the concept in our lives.
Bryan Stevenson, lawyer, social justice activist and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, says, “When you get close to the excluded and the disfavored, you learn things that you need to understand if we’re going to change the world.” In this talk Stevenson discusses proximity to suffering as essential to empathy.
Psychologist Daniel Goleman talks to Oprah about three components of empathy:
- Cognitive: “Simply knowing how the other person feels and what they might be thinking. Sometimes called perspective-taking.”
- Emotional: “When you feel physically along with the other person, as though their emotions were contagious.”
- Compassionate: “With this kind of empathy, empathic concern, we not only understand a person’s predicament and feel with them, but are spontaneously moved to help, if needed.”
Reflection
What helps you understand what someone else is experiencing or feeling? What gets in your way?
How would you prefer someone to show you empathy?