Respect and Empathy
I have been thinking lately about how empathy goes hand-in-hand with respect. You can’t really say you have empathy for someone, or for a group of someones, if you don’t give them the respect...
Category: Empathy
Empathy in the Time of Coronavirus
Has the pandemic increased or decreased empathy in our lives and our world? As usual, the answer seems to be, both. At the local level, within our own neighborhoods and communities, we are seeing...
Mr. Rogers and My Father
I recently saw the movie, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” Also, I have been living through the last weeks of life for my 92-year-old father, who has terminal cancer. These things turn out...
Tribalism
We hear a lot these days about how tribalism is increasing–us vs them, reds vs blues, etc. Along with this, we hear calls from governmental leaders, including the president of the United States, to...
Cross-cultural empathy here and now
A recent article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune tells about a brilliant idea that promotes understanding between cultures. And not only that, it’s easy and cheap. Rather than sending teenagers abroad to live with a...
Outpouring of Support for Immigrants
It is very heartening to see the outpouring of support for immigrants, after Donald Trump’s ban on immigration from several Muslim countries. We have also seen, recently, people from other cultures and countries being denigrated,...
Happy Holidays, Y’all
So, with the election of Donald Trump, people are saying that we can finally say “Merry Christmas” again. Like, we couldn’t before? Of course you can say “Merry Christmas”–to people who actually celebrate the...
This Election: Seriously lacking in empathy
The election for president of the U.S. this year has been more divisive than any I have ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot in my 48 years of voting. I’m not going to...
Why do we seek out sadness?
When I transferred this blog to the new website, I found one unfinished post. In it, I pondered why humans voluntarily seek out books, movies and TV shows that are about sad, even tragic,...