Gratitude is a powerful way to improve almost any situation or relationship. Every year in November, I offer my readers 30 days of gratitude in My Gratitude Project.
This is the end of My Gratitude Project for 2025, but of course, there is no end to gratitude and empathy. These are enduring goals, skills—and universal human needs. So this year, consider empathy and gratitude as gifts you can bestow. In this giving season, they can be the most treasured of all. The result is often bonding, community, even love—another universal human need. And in the end, we can all be grateful for the magic of empathy and of…
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For me, gratitude and empathy aren’t just professional skills, but deeply personal ones. In my experience, they are closely related. When everything feels like it’s crashing down and problems seem to be everywhere, these are the tools I turn to. I myself have had dark times, days when tears wouldn’t stop, when darkness was everywhere, and I felt broken and lost. The reasons don’t matter anymore. At that time in my life, I turned to mindfulness and meditation to bring…
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It’s Thanksgiving. Empathy and food — is there a connection? I don’t think so. Let’s all just be grateful today for the food we have, and empathize with those who are hungry. And if you have a crazy uncle at the table who starts trying to spout his views, don’t confront them. Spend a moment trying to empathize and understand and validate them and then go back to eating. It will keep a little peace at the table, and more…
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Empathy and turkeys — a half-serious post on the day before Thanksgiving? Should we empathize with turkeys? This is treacherous moral ground, and I am of the opinion that in our morals, we must each be guided by our own conscience. Vegans don’t eat any animal products, often because of a sense of empathy with them. I respect that. I also know that domesticated animals wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for farming. Most farm animals wouldn’t survive in the wild—or…
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Animal empathy? Research suggests that many animals empathize just like we do—or at least sort of like we do. The basis for animal empathy is mirror neurons, which were actually first detected in monkeys rather than humans. Researchers observed that the monkeys’ brains were activated in the same way whether they were grasping an object or watching another monkey grasp an object. That is the magic of mirror neurons and empathy: whether we do it or see it, our brain…
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Empathy and love are inseparable. Both lead to healing and clarity. We all know the sound of empathy and love. Like love, empathy speaks in low tones, like a late-night DJ on a jazz station. Empathy. Is. Slow. It doesn’t rush. It allows people to take back their words and say it again better. There is space for reflection between words and ideas. In Corinthians 13, the Bible describes love (sometimes translated as charity), but it may as well be…
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