One of the most important things we learn
in our journey
of realizing empathy
is that our care
can actually get in the way
of realizing empathy.
Care is good,
but as a fuel for realizing empathy,
it often burns too quickly.
And once it burns out,
what’s left
are residues
of bitterness,
frustration,
and resentment.
Appreciation
is an alternative fuel
for realizing empathy.
It is not an intuitive fuel to use.
It is also not as strong.
But it is powerful enough
in most cases.
It is also more sustainable.
There are different fuels
we can choose to use
when working towards
realizing empathy.
Let us choose
appropriately.
p.s: My colleague Julia Dorbic was gracious enough to interview me on a related topic called Bringing Design to Human-Human Interactions.