The following articles are related to ‘Empathy’ at BlogsInMind.com Archive.
I think our usual ideas of health need to be expanded to include how well we cope with illness. If we can embrace the idea that there are more or less healthy ways of coping with illness, this might help us relate to those who are going through the pain.
Making major changes can be a time when we experience intense emotion. It is a thoroughly emotional business, from the desire we feel for change to what we feel when making the change.
Sometimes we are inclined to minimise others’ pain. Sometimes others are inclined to minimise our pain, to tell us that everyone suffers — in which case it can be helpful to ask, “What difference does that make?”
It seems that our experience is common or shared. Our understanding is based on our experience; but our experience is shared, and so our understanding can be too.
How is it possible that we get closer through difference? Dealing with our deepest differences can lead to greater intimacy. How can it be that I am closer to you because we are so different?
As we make friends with someone we usually get a better sense of what their words mean. We get a sense of our friend’s internal world. We get a sense of where their words come from.
If pleasure is the only guide, then any addict with enough money to get what they want is our model.
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