I love hearing others’ perspectives and dwelling on their words to see what surfaces in my own heart and mind.
I’m often deeply moved by what people say and try to offer more to the conversation. When I read these words, I immediately recognised that a chord had been struck… in a painful way.
Here they are:
“Me having more empathy for the person who hurt me than for myself and trying not to feel guilty for comforting them.”
I’m trying to push past my shame because this sentence describes my actions exactly. It points directly to the truth that I have more empathy for others than I do for myself. And perhaps that’s because I’m not entirely sure what having empathy for myself even means as I sit here writing this… but I recognise the need to explore this further and understand why self-empathy feels so foreign.
I know why I have high empathy for others; it’s woven into who I am. But my goodness, maybe it’s time I learned to turn that compassionate gaze inward, too.
