Virtual Empathy Tour : 4 great resources to better understand, and connect with others
What is empathy and why does it matter?
Empathy is the ability to share and understand the emotions of others. Empathy is not sympathy.
Empathy can reduce stress, build more positive relationships and even boost revenues. It is critical to becoming better at work, at home and in the society.
Only the development of compassion and understanding for others can bring us the tranquility and happiness we all seek. — Dalai Lama
Leadership is about empathy. It is about having the ability to relate to and connect with people for the purpose of inspiring and empowering their lives. — Oprah Winfrey
The Challenge
At the same time, we often surround ourselves with people like us. We live in the social media echo chambers which reinforce our current views, and as a result hinder connecting with those who are different. Different may be just it — different.
Many admire Apple for its ___ (fill in the blanks). Apple slogan used to be “Think Different”. How about we take it further? How about we imagine and understand different too? Diversity enhances creativity and makes us smarter. Exposure to “different” reduces our biases and makes us thrive as a society. How then might we put ourselves into someone else's shoes?
The Solution — welcome to the virtual empathy tour!
Why not start with understanding of how an ordinary day looks like for others?
Here are four simple ways to see the world through others’ eyes and imagine how it might feel to be them.
1. Dollar Street — explore how people live across countries, see their ordinary yet extra-ordinary moments captured in photos and videos. A project by Gapminder founded by late Hans Rosling, his son and his daughter-in-law who continue his legacy. You might remember Hans Rosling from his TED talk “The Best Stats You’ve Ever Seen”. Go and explore at https://www.gapminder.org/dollar-street
2. “A Life in a Day” from 2020 and 2010 — a 1.5h crowd-sourced documentary, a time capsule showcasing ordinary people and how they go about July 25, 2020. All the joyful and less joyful moments. Real life. Based on 300,000 submissions from 192 countries: https://lifeinaday.youtube/
3. Peter Menzel’s albums the Hungry Planet and Material World Portrait Gallery — meaningful photographs of what the world eats and what people own. https://www.menzelphoto.com/portfolio/
4. “Day in the life of…” videos — we all play roles in our life. Have you ever wondered how it might be to spend a day as:
- 🚚 a Japanese Delivery Worker (link)
- 🏥 a Nurse (link)
- 👩👧👦 a Working Mom of Four (link)
- ☕ an Ethiopian Coffee Farmer (link)
- 👨🏻🌾 or a Chinese Farmer in his 80s (link)
- 📦 an Amazon Warehouse Stower (link)
- … others? It might be just a single Google search away.
Remember:
Empathy has no script. There is no right way or wrong way to do it. It’s simply listening, holding space, withholding judgment, emotionally connecting, and communicating that incredibly healing message of ‘You’re not alone.’ — Brené Brown
Be curious, be kind.
