Practicing Empathy in a Polarized World

I feel like quite a bit these days, I hear the words, “The world is very heavy right now” and that quote is not wrong. The ongoing war in Gaza, the mass shootings, the constant breaking news about bills and laws being passed that harm citizens rather than help them, among so many other things. The world IS extremely heavy right now. As a woman who has grown up in America, with an educated family, one thing I have always been taught is empathy. I always remember as a kid quotes like, “put yourself in their shoes” and “treat others how you want to be treated” and those quotes have always stuck with me. As I’ve grown up, the politics in the United States have become more and more divided, making it extremely difficult to get actual, meaningful things done today. One thing that I have never changed my opinion on though, is the idea of empathy and how I carry that throughout my life in today’s world. So, follow along with me as I discuss practicing the idea of empathy in a very divided and polarized world.

To begin, let’s start with a couple of definitions. “Empathy is the ability to emotionally understand what other people feel, see things from their point of view, and imagine yourself in their place”. Empathy essentially takes the quotes that I remember from my childhood and meshes them together to create this idea of trying as best as you can to look at situation from not your perspective, but from somebody else’s. Polarization is the “division into two sharply distinct opposites, especially a state in which the opinions, beliefs, or interests of a group or society no longer range on a continuum but become concentrated at opposing extremes”. In today’s American politics, polarization is seen between the Republican party and the Democratic party. It has gotten to points where nobody wants to hear each other out anymore, or have civil disagreements or discussions. And I’m not going to sit here and act like I would love to have a discussion with someone from the opposite party as me, but that’s not what I’m asking you to do. All I’m asking you to do is to practice empathy.

With so many environmental, social, political, and health problems today, there is a lot of uncertainty. There is a lot of unknowns. Sometimes everything feels overwhelming. And that’s okay. All of this is okay, because you are not alone in feeling this way. And this is why empathy is so important; I truly believe that every single person is fighting a battle that you cannot see. It doesn’t matter their political stance, what matters is that they are a human being too, with battles that you cannot see from the outside. I think that our society has become so numb to tragedy that tragic accidents, and death, and sickness, and political issues have almost become dark humor to people. Because all of these issues are so overwhelming and they are so constant, we all shut down. We refuse to hear other people out because all we want to do is be right about things, because there is so much we can’t be right about in the world. This is why the divide in politics has become so far apart, because everybody just wants to be right. One way that I practice empathy is to admit and learn why I am wrong about something. I used to be a very stubborn person, and now I can admit when I’m wrong because I am willing to actively listen to the other person, and understand where they might be coming from.

Another way that I practice empathy is to ask questions. Again, there is so much uncertainty in the world that we don’t want to ask questions because what if the answer is unknown? What if we don’t like the answer? Powering through all of these scary thoughts are what I think makes empathy so powerful. Being able to truly put yourself in another person’s shoes, and treating people how you want to be treated, goes such a long way. The American Psychological Associate has written an article about cultivating empathy that I love and highly recommend. By practicing empathy, we can work towards a society that isn’t so divided, and we can maybe restore a little bit of faith in humanity. With that, always remember to be kind, work hard, and spread love.

Signing off for today,

Emma