Imagination and Empathy

This week at Chautauqua Institution we heard four wonderful lectures on empathy, all different and thought provoking. Did you know that animals experience empathy? Did you know that Virtual Reality can help us understand what other people experience? Have you thought about the way that setting boundaries in difficult relationships might help you empathize safely?

I love this quote by J.K. Rowling about the way our imaginations help us to empathize (or empathise in the UK) with others. Can you put yourself in another person’s life and imagine what they have experienced and how it’s made them the person they are? Novelists do this all the time, although we get to manipulate the facts and situations. In real life it’s harder, isn’t it? But so worthwhile.

It’s been a great week with lots to think about. I’m glad I can share a little with you.

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