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| PHOTO CAPTION: "Photo Courtesy of Flickr." |
Marshall Rosenberg, the founder and director of educational services for the Center for Nonviolent Communication, an international peacemaking organization, states that "empathy is a respectful understanding of what others are experiencing."
Rosenberg, who is the 2006 recipient of the Global Village Foundation’s Bridge of Peace Award and has traveled all over the world helping others resolve conflicts, says that "instead of offering empathy, we often have a strong urge to give advice or reassurance and to explain our own position or feeling." He adds that, "Empathy, however, calls upon us to empty our mind and listen to others with our whole being."
Presence
I believe that empathy is about being fully present with another’s experience. When we are present we are not thinking about the laundry we need to do, the score of the baseball game or how we can get what we want. In Nonviolent Communication empathy involves imagining what the other person may be experiencing and more specifically what they may be feeling and deeply longing for or needing.
I believe that empathy is about being fully present with another’s experience. When we are present we are not thinking about the laundry we need to do, the score of the baseball game or how we can get what we want. In Nonviolent Communication empathy involves imagining what the other person may be experiencing and more specifically what they may be feeling and deeply longing for or needing.
When we connect with that energy we connect with the divine energy in the other and what really matters to them.
Organizations that help individuals, families and the community are in a position of offering empathy and healing. But it is essential for these organizations to develop a culture of empathy within the organization.
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