Dickens is Right Again
To quote probably the most-often quoted opening line in literature: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” In this case, for empathy. Lookin back at 2022, what first comes...
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Mean Humor or Good-Natured Teasing?
There is a line between laughing at someone and laughing with someone. That line is empathy. Normally I wouldn’t do this, but today I would like to share a personal post that I put...
Empathy for Every Soul
As we come to the end of a very difficult year, 2020 stands out as a time when we lost an extraordinary number of souls who should not have departed this Earth this year....
Wanted: Empathy
This essay was first published on the original Empathy Symbol website many years ago. It still applies. Remember the old song, “What the World Needs Now is Love, Sweet Love?” Remember John Lennon’s song...
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...
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...
Moral Imagination
There is a beautiful article in the Opinion section of the New York Times that never uses the word empathy, but is all about it. Jennifer Finney Boylan talks movingly, and personally, about how...
Empathy can hurt
Let’s be honest. It’s hard to deliberately subject yourself to pain. Which is what you’re doing if you’re an empathetic person, and you chose to go to a movie about a child who is...