Brene Brown on empathy and how empathy is v-e-r-y different from sympathy in an RSI Animation short.

From the video:

“Empathy fuels connection. Sympathy drives disconnection.”

Sharing work of Theresa Wiseman…

“Empathy comprises:

Perspective taking – the ability to take the perspective of another person and recognising it as their truth

Staying out of judgement -not easy when you enjoy it as much as most of us do

Recognising emotion in other people

Communicating emotion with people

“And to me, I think of empathy as this sacred space when someone’s kind of in a deep hole and they shout up and say:

‘I’m stuck, it’s dark, I’m overwhelmed.’

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“And we look in and say:

‘I’m coming down, I know what its like down here and you’re not alone.’

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Empathy is a choice – and a vulnerable choice.