The ability to listen to other people expressing what it is that they want, despite the way in which they express it in action or in words, however tragic, however violent the forms that they use. And then to support them to articulate it, and then to negotiate with them in a way that leads them to have those needs met. For society to be organized in a way that is in line with their values.
This ability to listen empathically to myself and be able to share it with you, and listen empathically to you, especially when you appear to be totally different than me, and work with you in order to meet your needs.
This is what I understand that empathy is about is an essential aspect in our ability to live together. And I see similarly as Obama does, that part of the problem that we are experiencing at the moment is that there is a gap in our ability to do that on a daily personal, interpersonal and social basis. There's a gap between our ability to do that, and the society in that we want to live in.
I'm really interested in the creation of social structures that support the emergence of empathy as the logical next step between people who are living together. So I love the way in which the - for want of a better word - the personal growth culture over the last few decades has investigated the question of empathy, made it its own, and started to develop it as a skill.
But I don't actually experience it as a skill. The artificiality implicit in skill is something that is at odds with the authenticity that I experience when real empathic change occurs.
So as I interested in building a capacity through personal practice, I'm also really interested in what is a school that supports, that makes it logical for empathy to be the next step that I take in my day-to-day dealings.
- What does that school look like?
- What does a family in which empathy is the logical next step when disconnection emerges, or conflict becomes painful?
- What would a justice system look like where it makes sense that empathy is at the heart of the way in which these people come together to create balance, safety and inclusion for everybody?
So I'd like to invite people to start thinking beyond the intra- and interpersonal, and to start questioning what it looks like to set up social structures which are designed with the intention of creating the conditions for empathy to emerge.
The restorative circle work that I do is my attempt to do that investigation. But it's just the first few seconds of whatever needs to be done. So I'd like to invite people to join this investigation.
End of Part 2 of 3
Let's Find 1 Million People Who Want to Build a Culture of Empathy and Compassion
http://Causes.com/Empathy
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