What is Empathy? I explore the eymology, psychology, physiology and spirituality behind the concept in an attempt to answer this question. How do we feel the other? How do we know the difference between our feelings and the feelings of the other? The three major components of empathy seem to be: knowing, feeling and responding compassionately. We read books to gather knowledge of things we do not have the time or space to learn first hand. Tuning our empathy has the same effect but for emotions. We can connect with other humans and simulate experiences we have never had. In doing so we expand our awareness and are better able to live ethically and effectively with our fellow humans.
Tag: Mind
V&E Poetic Therapy: The Mental Traveller
by William Blake I travelled through a land of men, A land of men and women too, And heard and saw such dreadful things As cold… Read more “V&E Poetic Therapy: The Mental Traveller”
V&E Philosophy of Wellness
Many of us take a top down approach to our wellness thinking that if we change the way we eat, if we work out, buy ethical products then we are achieving wellness. Yet there is still an upsetting amount of judgement and shame that we put on ourselves and others and the initiative fails. Why is this? Changing your perspective might truly be the first step.
The Second Coming
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
by William Butler Yeats 1919
I’m curious, how does this poem make you feel?
Is this simply a response to the traumatic WWI, and if so, why is our response to trauma to end it all? To believe that it is all ending?
This is Ophelia Blue
This is her first post and V&E’s first tribe member.
Ophelia is writing her truth from her own voice and her own unique perspective.
Body Economics
Our bodies are the most present and seemingly controllable of all of the aspects of our beings. The effort we put into our bodies is proven in results; in that way could say that the body is economical. The currency we use to buy ourselves fit bodies, for instance, is a combination of healthy eating, exercise, and sleep.
The difficulty with body economics is that we can become greedy or impatient…
What is ASMR? Pt. II
I wanted to do another post on ASMR and explore its psychotherapeutic benefits. I share many of these videos because I believe in their ability to help heal the mind and body, but I am interested in learning more about how and why they are so helpful.
Why am I addicted?
Part I of a series of reflections on Addictions. Exploring what they are, where they come from, and how we might use that knowledge to overcome them. I will share my personal struggle with caffeine, food, and nicotine addictions.
vehemence & emergence 