Jamison: “Empathy isn’t just something that happens to us — a meteor shower of synapses firing across the brain — it’s also a choice we make: to
pay attention, to extend ourselves. It’s made of exertion, that dowdier cousin of impulse.” (5 People Who can…. Emma Pattee)
Stevens: Yes! And “researchers have found that trying to imagine how someone feels is often not enough to elicit true empathy — you need to actually ask them.” (How to fix our… Ashlie Stevens)
Jamison: You know, when I went to a Morgellons Conference one time, I remember that “most people at the conference understand the disease
as an “us versus them” of some kind”. They all went out and asked people about their experiences and created a shared web of understanding and empathy amongst them. (Devil’s Bait , Leslie Jamison)
Stevens: The organization United We Dream does something similar, where they bring in people who have similar stories and they share them. And “Once they’ve found community with people like them, they feel more empowered to share their personal experiences on a wider stage.” . (How to fix our… Ashlie Stevens)
Jamison: Community is so important. There were so many people at that conference that were alone. I’ll always remember the woman who told me to tell her that her disease was “not contagious, so every- one will
come back — and [I] so [hoped] for an answer that might make
things better; that might make her less alone.” (Devil’s Bait , Leslie Jamison)
Stevens: Yeah. Its awful how isolating it can be when you don’t have anyone around you who can talk and relate with.
