There’s a common idea that compassion for others begins with imagining yourself in their shoes. It sounds right, and it’s offered so often that it almost feels unchallengeable. But in practice, I’ve come to think this framing can actually get in the way. When you try to imagine what someone else is going through, you’re…
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The Stranger on the Platform It started this morning at the train station. A woman ahead of us in line snapped at the attendant over something small — a delay, a wrong ticket, we couldn’t quite tell. Our first impulse was the familiar one: judgment, the quiet internal eye-roll, the story we started writing about…
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The Woman at the Crosswalk It started with something small — someone we didn’t know, standing at a crosswalk this morning, pressing the button over and over again even though the light was already changing. We noticed the flash of irritation first: it’s already coming, just wait. And then something softened. We looked again. Her…
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The Impulse That Arrived Before the Listening It started, as these things often do, with a conversation we weren’t quite ready for. A friend sat across from us — maybe at a kitchen table, maybe on the other end of a phone line where we could hear the slight catch in their breathing — and…
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The Woman at the Intersection It started at a crosswalk this morning—nothing dramatic. A woman was standing at the corner with a stroller, one wheel caught on the curb lip, bags sliding off the handle, a toddler wailing that particular wail that means the world has ended and also I dropped my cracker. I was…
Read moreMany people go through life without recognizing the importance of expressing and embodying compassion for all others. Compassion is a complex emotion, but it can be simplified into understanding that we are all connected in our humanity. By embracing such notion, one nurtures an attitude open to extending kindness towards others despite differences in cultural…
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When it comes to living life thoughtfully and ethically, many people today strive for a balanced approach that encompasses the importance of mindfulness. While ethical truths can be found in a variety of philosophical systems, there are some core values that cut across all traditions. One such idea is the concept of loving kindness and…
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In today’s world, it can be difficult to cultivate feelings of warmth and kindness for the people around us. We are often too busy or overwhelmed with stress and anxiety to take pause and connect with those we come into contact with at work, in our daily lives, or even strangers on the street. However,…
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