Intern Blog Series: Empathy and Volunteering

My friend and I were having one of our many discussions about what’s going on in the world recently and one topic stood out to me.  She asked me what one word I thought many people today are lacking.  After thinking about it for a minute I replied with “empathy”.  It’s my absolute favorite word and it’s the personality trait I really seek out when choosing my friends.  The official definition of empathy is “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another”.  I think it’s a pretty simple definition but I think there are many components that make up what it means to be empathetic.  The main one to me is listening.  I think that with all the technology and the busy-ness of our lives today we’ve forgotten how to truly listen. Many of us are stuck in our ways of thinking and refuse to hear what someone with opposing views have to say.  Oftentimes we don’t even ask people we just assume.  Without this how are we ever supposed to “understand and share feelings”?  Also, I think it is so common to judge people today, sometimes without even knowing them.  In today’s world, a big reason for this is social media.  Many people think that what people post on Facebook or Instagram is a true reflection of who they are as a person but social media is only one platform of communication.  Face to face conversations is what brings out connections between people. I try really hard in my life to empathize with people, even if I truly believe that their choices are wrong.  Empathy is one of the biggest things that drove me to start volunteering.  Yes, I think that volunteering makes people feel good about themselves (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing), and most of the time it does good for the world. However, I think that volunteering to me is the biggest learning experience I have in my life.  It is the relationships built with people, conversations started with people of different backgrounds and cultures, and seeing different ways of life that shape us and make us empathetic people.  We may never know what it feels like to be a refugee, immigrant, etc. but I strongly believe it will make this world a better place if we really try to understand and feel what others are going through because at the end of the day we’re all human.   Thank you, Anne Marie]]>