Joanna Kucherera

In the we world we live in today, we could all use some empathy toward one another. Empathy is the ability we have as humans to feel for another, to try and look at the world from another person’s perspective. Presently, it feels we are living in a world where we are divided and not taking the time to create spaces for connections and dialogue. When empathy is lacking so is kindness, love, understanding, and forgiveness. In this article, we will look at several practical tips for improving empathy. Empathy can be divided into 3 categories, namely affective, somatic, and cognitive. Affective empathy is a person’s ability to respond to what others might be experiencing appropriately. This can mean knowing what to say to someone who is grieving. Somatic empathy is when a person can feel what another person is feeling. They do not need to have gone through a similar experience, they can embody what others feel in different situations and therefore can behave accordingly. Cognitive empathy on the other hand is being able to understand why people respond the way they do or why people feel the way they do about certain situations. They do not necessarily have to agree with the responses, but they understand. There are many ways people can improve their ability to be empathetic toward others. Realizing how important empathy is in our world and our day-to-day relationships and connections is essential. Without empathy, it can be difficult to build long-lasting relationships or partnerships. When people become more empathetic, we also have a kinder world, one that encourages pro-social behavior and unity rather than mistrust and destruction. Living in a world without empathy means that we resign ourselves to indifference with the suffering of others. This gives rise to feelings of superiority, discrimination, [...]