🪞 309: How quickly can you move from disbelief to empathy?
Throwback Thursday – TREE 59
One.
Two.
Imagine learning some truth about another person and that truth doesn’t fit your own life experience. What would your initial response be?
Mine is
to disbelieve them,
to think of reasons why what they are saying can’t be true,
to present explanations for why they are wrong,
to do whatever it takes to shut down the cognitive dissonance.
Fortunately, I’m learning to keep my initial response to myself so that I can listen and learn and formulate a better response. This is essential for me. I’m part of a family that has members with autism, ADHD, foetal alcohol spectrum disorder and various sexual orientations. My individual life experience barely scratches the surface of reality.
Working to increase the speed at which you move from disbelief to empathy will help you be more curious and creative. It will also make you a nicer person to be with.
Three.
More Little Simz. Tuesday night my 18 year-old daughter and I went to see Little Simz in Liverpool. (I introduced her to Little Simz and going to the show was my idea, in case you need to know how super cool I am.) What. A. Show. What a gift live music is! Unfortunately, the album version of this track doesn’t have the story she told about walking through the jungle. You had to be there. It’s still good advice though.
Grow slowly
Jeff
That’s a frabjous question to get the engine started. Empathy is inherent and learned. It comes jammed with lessons. Not many years ago, my father was 80, still hitting the gym regularly. Self-made millionaire and married 50+ years to my mother who was Infirm. I was served papers to sign that I was not his child, his firstborn. I signed. Years of being involved with him took its toll. He wanted my brother to get it all which he did. It’s been long enough to have compassion for him, now dead. How? By understanding his story. By caring to come to peace with his pain. He was a miserable man. Such a sad story. His story is my lesson of my choices to live in love, peace and joy. In joy!
What a story teller lil simz iz.