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About This Author
My name is Joy, and I love to write.
Why poetry, here? Because poetry uplifts its writer, and if she is lucky enough, her readers, too. Around us, so many objects abound to write about. Once a poet starts with a smallest, most trivial object, he shall discover that his pen will spill out what is most delicate or most majestic hidden inside him. Since the classics sometimes dealt with lofty subjects with a lofty language, a person with poetry in his soul may incline to emulate that. That is understandable. Poetry does that to a person: it enlarges the soul and gives it wings. Yet, to really soar, a poet needs to take off from the ground.
 
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Daily Cascade #1093909 added July 22, 2025 at 1:25pm
Restrictions: None
Why Is Empathy Important?
Prompt: Empathy
"The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy."
Meryl Streep
What are your thoughts on empathy?
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Empathy is what connects us as human beings. It acts like a glue or a catalyst for cooperation and kindness. That's why it is a great gift.
I think the very first advantage of empathy begins with one's own self, and to me, it means personal growth. It means I do not look at the world only through my own eyes but see it in its entirety and imagine other's problems and suffering, be it that of a human or an animal.
A few days ago, a huge lawnmower-truck on the golf course hit and injured a white ibis. After the truck left, I saw that the bird had blood on its white feathers. It was in pain. I don't know how to help an injured bird, so I reached for my cell to call some wildlife rescue. Luckily, Florida has many wildlife rescue groups, but there is no rescue programs nationwide. Before I could dial, though, the bird somehow took flight and flew away. I didn't know whether to feel relieved or not. The thought of that injured bird falling down somewhere else still haunts me. But there was nothing I could do. Even if I had finished the call, nobody could help an injured bird in flight.
Not everyone, though, can feel the pain of others. Some people with brain problems cannot feel empathy fully for they cannot relate to the other person's troubles, especially if they haven't experienced those problems themselves. I am not saying which brain problems here because it would be pointing a finger at a group of people who are already suffering.
Then, interestingly enough, it is claimed that too much empathy leads to burnout and emotional fatigue. This, I guess, is true for caregivers and people who are constantly exposed to others' pain. That is why some doctors and nurses can act so sanely, but mostly, on the outside. I know this, since a few of them have been family and close friends. I know they try to handle the leftover pain in their psyches through their own ways, often not very successfully.
Truth is, empathy is not just a nice feeling for another's pain. It motivates compassion and action. It serves many other purposes, too, beginning with better relationships among friends, family, and couples. Leaders who are empathetic understand the needs of their team, and in turn, their understanding and action accordingly boosts morale and cooperation. In better, healthier societies, empathy produces moral progress, such as civil rights and immediate action when disaster strikes with people helping one another and even strangers.
This is because empathy is our ability to sense and understand what others and all living beings are feeling — to feel with them rather than just observing them from the outside. So, empathy matters because it connects us to each other and to all life.
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