โฅ the language of empathy โฅ
Posted: Thu, Nov 19, 2015 07:38:02 AM
so the language of empathy, what i can say about that? for one, it was a very foreign language to me when i got here, it was almost as if those in the rooms were speaking in clicks of the tongue and whistles, as i had very little frame of reference for what they were trying to tell me. these days, well i have picked up an ear for empathy and am still learning how to speak the language. before i get moving into all of that, i need to do a quick shout-out:
back to empathy. when i got here i was quite certain that empathy = sympathy = pity. displaying any of those interchangeables was a sign of weakness, and when my associates seemed to fall into that trap, i would pounce. i had learned to feign sympathy and used pity as a weapon against my imagined adversaries, but i never really felt either one. it is odd, that when i think back to how i was, that i am starting to see how close i emulated a sociopath. that was, however, then and this is now. that person, while not dead and certainly not sleeping is being transformed into a human being, rather than a had to use automaton.
do i do empathy perfectly today? not by any means, as one of the men i sponsor would love to point out 😇. what i do show today, is genuine feeling and compassion for those around me, and empathy as well as sympathy. pity? well unless i am, living in self-pity, that is generally not used very often by me. i know that sympathy, empathy and pity are not the same, and each has its own “language.” when i see one of my peers suffering i can show sympathy towards them, as well feel their pain. as much as i would like to, i cannot however remove that pain and suffering. as i consider that, i realize the notion of relieving pain, goes more to pity rather than empathy. so i guess i am learning to be fluent in this brave new world i find myself in. it is a good day to be clean and a better one top let those i share my recovery with, that there is another day to be had, clean, no matter how much it hurts today.
Sic Boy,
Congrats on 16 17 years of
consecutive days of No Matter Whats!
back to empathy. when i got here i was quite certain that empathy = sympathy = pity. displaying any of those interchangeables was a sign of weakness, and when my associates seemed to fall into that trap, i would pounce. i had learned to feign sympathy and used pity as a weapon against my imagined adversaries, but i never really felt either one. it is odd, that when i think back to how i was, that i am starting to see how close i emulated a sociopath. that was, however, then and this is now. that person, while not dead and certainly not sleeping is being transformed into a human being, rather than a had to use automaton.
do i do empathy perfectly today? not by any means, as one of the men i sponsor would love to point out 😇. what i do show today, is genuine feeling and compassion for those around me, and empathy as well as sympathy. pity? well unless i am, living in self-pity, that is generally not used very often by me. i know that sympathy, empathy and pity are not the same, and each has its own “language.” when i see one of my peers suffering i can show sympathy towards them, as well feel their pain. as much as i would like to, i cannot however remove that pain and suffering. as i consider that, i realize the notion of relieving pain, goes more to pity rather than empathy. so i guess i am learning to be fluent in this brave new world i find myself in. it is a good day to be clean and a better one top let those i share my recovery with, that there is another day to be had, clean, no matter how much it hurts today.
∞ DT ∞