Empathy

I'm a little behind posting.....my computer keeps crashing :( But I wanted to respond to assignment 2 re the 6 senses; as a school counselor, I think i'm instrinsicly drawn to EMPATHY--its such an emperative skill to develop. I believe that if we valued the aptitude for understanding someones feelings or "meeting them where they lived," it may, in fact, heighten the development of the other senses. what if we valued tenderness & care?? could it change the nature in which we sell products or do business or even educate?? could meaning, play, design, story & symphony derive their direction from the understanding of empathy?? Perhaps an entire society of people embracing this aptitude would redefine the other senses....we would "feel" & understand them in a different way if we first learned the art of caring for one another.

It seems to me that children, usually, innately have the gift of loving self, life & creation but we fail to celebrate these gifts in our kids; instead we move them into the "normal" grooves of societal living--that for most of us adults, are stressful, unhealthy & what we spend the rest of our lives trying to "retire" from; watch a toddler or young child's compassion emerge when you tell a story about a wounded animal or other children who have lost their home in a hurricane---I think we bypass these moments too quickly & unknowlingly devalue their empathetic feelings. As a counselor, I want to "Juice" these moments for all they are worth because I think it makes a difference in the other senses we are trying to develop.