empathy

Fandango’s Flashback Friday — February 3rd

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Wouldn’t you like to expose your newer readers to some of your earlier posts that they might never have seen? Or remind your long term followers of posts that they might not remember? Each Friday I will publish a post I wrote on this exact date in a previous year.

How about you? Why don’t you reach back into your own archives and highlight a post that you wrote on this very date in a previous year? You can repost your Flashback Friday post on your blog and pingback to this post. Or you can just write a comment below with a link to the post you selected.

If you’ve been blogging for less than a year, go ahead and choose a post that you previously published on this day (the 3rd) of any month within the past year and link to that post in a comment.

This was originally posted on February 3, 2018. Before I get into my Flashback Friday post, I discovered, as I was looking through my archives yesterday, that almost five years ago to the day, I posted this post, which featured the same two words, sympathy and empathy, that today’s Flashback post features. This is really quite coincidental and unintentional, I promise.

Word Play Gone Astray

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“I really empathize with that poor man over there,” Jessica said, looking at the homeless man sleeping beneath a tree in the park.

“No, Jessica, you don’t empathize with him,” Mitch said. “How could you? You’ve never been homeless and had to sleep on the street.”

“You know what I mean,” responded Jessica. “I feel bad for him, sorry for him.”

“I know you do,” said Mitch. “But that’s not empathy, that’s sympathy.”

“Same difference,” Jessica said.

“No, empathy and sympathy are not the same,” Mitch said. “When you empathize with someone, you can put yourself in that person’s shoes. When you sympathize with someone, you feel compassion or pity toward that person.”

“Fine, whatever,” Jessica said. “It’s six of one, half a dozen of another.”

“Jessica,” Mitch said, “the two words are not synonymous.”

“Stop being such a grammar nerd, Mitch,” Jessica insisted. “I could care less if there is a slight difference between ‘empathize’ and ‘sympathize.’ You knew very well what I meant.”

“You mean you couldn’t care less,” Mitch said, a smile on his face.

“You’re an asshole,” Jessica said, as she stormed away.

Written for today’s one-word prompt, “sympathize.”

I Feel Your Pain

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Back when former U.S. President Bill Clinton was out on the campaign trail, he would cast his eyes down, press his lips together, and then say to his fellow Americans, “I feel your pain.” He masterfully played the empathy card and that may have been a contributing factor to his successful election in November 1992. I voted for him in ‘92 and ‘96, but I always felt that his “I feel your pain” shtick was kind of hokey.

I’ve always thought of myself to be a sympathetic person. Sympathy is largely used to convey commiseration, pity, or feelings of sorrow for someone else who is experiencing misfortune. I could feel sorry for people who find themselves in tough situations or who are suffering. Sympathy is acknowledging someone else’s pain. It’s what I felt toward individuals who are disabled or handicapped.

But I have now discovered the difference between sympathy and empathy. Empathy is the capacity or ability to imagine oneself in the situation of another, experiencing the pain, emotions, ideas, or opinions of that person. It’s choosing to not just acknowledge the pain, but to feel the pain with those in tough situations or who are suffering.

And now I can honestly say that I am experiencing true empathy, maybe for the first time in my life, for temporarily or permanently disabled people. Because now I am — temporarily I hope — disabled. I am handicapped. And now I feel your pain.

Put the Ugliness Behind Us

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“He’s was man of seeming respectability and l really did admire him at the time,” Brenda said. “But after he launched his campaign, I had no idea that he would turn out to be the way he did.”

“I tried to give you fair warning,” Chris said. “He came from a background of extreme wealth and privilege, and as time elapsed, it became clear that he was not anyone who would have ever set foot in, or perhaps even heard of, soup kitchens. Empathy was not his strong suit and I think we all dodged a bullet when he lost the election.”

“I just wish he’d acknowledge his loss and concede the election,” Brenda said. “Then, maybe, we will finally be able to put this ugliness behind us.”

Written for these daily prompts: E.M.’s Random Word Prompt (respectability), Ragtag Daily Prompt (admire), Your Daily Word Prompt (launch), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (warning), My Vivid Blog (privilege), Word of the Day Challenge (elapse), and The Daily Spur (soup).

FOWC with Fandango — Empathy

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FOWC

It’s July 12, 2022. Welcome to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (U.S.).

Today’s word is “empathy.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. Show them some love.

Fandango’s Provocative Question #70 Revisited

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Note: Because I am participating in the A to Z blogging challenge this month, I will not be posting any new provocative question until May. Instead, I will be revisiting some previous provocative questions that you might have missed. This one was originally posted on May 20, 2020 and can be found here. Please feel free to respond to it if you haven’t already.

FPQ

Welcome once again to Fandango’s Provocative Question. Each week I will pose what I think is a provocative question for your consideration.

By provocative, I don’t mean a question that will cause annoyance or anger. Nor do I mean a question intended to arouse sexual desire or interest.

What I do mean is a question that is likely to get you to think, to be creative, and to provoke a response. Hopefully a positive response.

When I was doing the A to Z Blogging Challenge last month, I posted old sayings or adages daily and in alphabetical order, A through Z. One of the old adages I came across, but did not use was this: “Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes.”

The suggestion to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes means that, before passing judgment on someone else, you must understand his or her experiences, challenges, thought processes, etc. In effect, it is a reminder to practice empathy.

And that brings me to this week’s provocative question.

If you could choose anyone, past or present, and walk that proverbial mile in his or her shoes, who would you choose, and why would you choose that person?

If you choose to participate, write a post with your response to the question. Once you are done, tag your post with #FPQ and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments. But remember to check to confirm that your pingback or your link shows up in the comments.