EMPATHY.

Today, while watching a Stanley Donen movie (funny face) and hearing Audrey Hepburn passionately preach about empathy in the movie really got me curious as to what empathy and why is it important in our daily lives? People often confuse empathy with sympathy. Sympathy is to feel sorry for someone whereas empathy means to connect with someone, feel about their pain, care about their well being, and to act with compassion. Psychiatrist researcher and author Helen Riess says, "All parties are equally enriched when we perceive and respond to each other with empathy and compassion. After all, its the human bond that adds music to the words in life". Most of us are empathetic people. Most of the humans, as well as animals, don't rejoice while seeing someone suffer. During this global pandemic, there have been numerous incidents of people showing empathy towards one another. You can compartmentalize humans but you cant compress their feeling of empathy. This has been seen as people are helping the lower economic class and the patients of this virus during this time of crisis. Audrey Hepburn once said "Nothing is more important than empathy for another human's suffering. Not a career. Not wealth. Not intelligence. Certainly not status. We have to feel for one another if we are going to survive with dignity." and I completely agree to it. Empathy has been hailed by researchers from a wide range of disciplines and also by some public figures. Rifkin was one of them and he regarded empathy as a force whose cultivation has unique revolutionary powers to transform a world in crisis. Empathy is critical for us to strive and thrive not only as an individual but as a whole society. Our capacity to perceive and resonate with others suffering often motivates us to respond with compassion. The survival of our species depends on mutual aid and providing it reduces our own distress and this is why empathy is important.