The Role Of Empathy In The Modern World

In the century of the technology, everyone rushes to chase their goals to become successful people in their lives. People are extremely busy with following their personal dreams, and they have a lot of things to care about. College students struggle with handling twenty-credit courses, while still enjoying life. Working parents struggle with following their career goals while improving their relationship with their children. Elderly people struggle with maintaining their mental and physical health. Everyone is busy cares about big things, including their careers, their goals, and their work-life balance.

The question is, how much have we had tried to understand other people's feelings struggling with their problems? Have we ever had time to care about other’s feelings when they are falling down after their broken marriages?* If we have ever tried to understand one's feelings, then we have tried to be empathic. In other words, the experience of understanding another person's feelings, thoughts, and condition from their point of view, is called empathy(psychology today)*. While conflicts occur whenever people disagree over their values, ideas, or desires, one key component to resolving conflicts is understanding one's feelings, values and ideas. As a result, empathy can significantly resolve one's conflicts with their partner, colleagues, or friends.

The three key components of how we connect to people and use empathy are body language, emotional expressions, and our responses to them. Body language is one of the key parts of the empathy. It is a vital part of our daily communication even though we may not be totally aware of it. Three main aspects of body language are eye contact, posture, and facial expression. Eye contact can show how a person pays attention, how they feel about another person. Last week, I met two of my friends, Sean and Ava, and I was witnessing them talking to each other and sharing the same feelings. Sean was talking about his experiences as an only child, and how it is hard in some situations. "Sometimes I really feel like I need someone else other than my parents to be able to count on him", Sean said while he was directly looking into Ava's eyes. Sean's upper eyelids were dropped, and his eyebrows were slightly angled upware above the nose forming an inverted 'V'. I could feel sadness and disappointment in Sean's face.

On the other hand, Ava was only listening very carefully to him, and she would shake her head up and down after each Sean's sentence. While Ava was staring at Sean's eyes, she would change her gesture and her face expression according to Will's story. Watching them experiencing empathy was like looking at a mirror for me because they would reflect each other's feelings. Ava did not interrupt while Sean was telling his story, but after Sean was done with his story, Ava responded back. "I can totally feel you, Sean. In fact, while you were telling your story, I had a feeling that was like listening to my own life's story with another point of view. I am only child as well. ", Ava responded back to Sean after he was finished with his story. I could feel the power of empathy, and see how empathy can connect two people to each other. Body language is the first connection that happens before even we start speaking. It was the Christmas of 2017, and I was walking to home after my work was over. I saw a man sitting on the floor next to a shopping cart. He We have all had the experience of watching homeless people in the streets. We can understand a homeless person by only looking at him/her.