Bridge to empathy
I want to start off by saying I don’t have the answer for this. It’s something I think about and struggle with so I thought I'd share here on The Bean Spot.
The world feels more divisive than ever before. Perhaps it’s partly because we have access to everyone’s thoughts and opinions via social media and the internet. When I see someone post something that I steadfastly disagree with (eg: Something political or socially driven) my first response is to get angry and call that person some cruel name and remind myself how ignorant and stupid they are and how much better I am than them. It’s really hard for me to let anything other than that in my purview. I have a hard time making space or empathizing with how they came to their decision.
These feelings of superiority and hate are not ones I wish to foster, however, it’s really hard for me to empathize or find compassion for people when I feel their opinions are wrong and steeped in hate and ignorance. When I find myself feeling this way, I remember an Anthony Bourdain quote I once read.
“There is something humanizing about putting aside differences, if only for a moment, to discuss how good biscuits taste.”
He spoke about forming a bond with people who share widely different values because they were able to find commonalities in enjoying food and drink. This is something I strive to work on because I know in order for society to move toward betterment, love, unity and fairness we need to be able to sit with those whose opinions differ and try to find a bridge where empathy can cross.
For the past 2 years our children have gone to school wearing masks. Wherever you stand on the debate of if masks should or should not be worn we are now at a crossroads where mask guidelines have changed and many children will soon be allowed to go to school mask-free.
As a mother I am hopefully optimistic and look forward to my kids going returning to a sense of normalcy at school. However, at the same time I know there are going to be children that continue to wear their masks and it’s my responsibility as a parent to remind my daughters that we don’t judge anyone for this specific choice. I’ve been speaking with them about not judging other students for their choice and understanding makes their own choices based on their comfort level and what works for them.
