sometimes it is through the musings of another or the awareness of their suffering that you are awakened to your own ability for compassion and survival that sometimes gets lost because you are too much in your own mind, unaware of your surroundings and others around you. sometimes unawareness sticks to me like glue. how strange is it to have something to apparent and not pay attention? and how ineffectual you can be to provide any comfort to them...
i have a friend who is ill and in the hospital. in the last several days, i've found myself incapable of offering any comfort. this disturbs me. even though i know there is really not much i can do except to reassure her she isn't alone or forgotten, it doesn't seem enough.
i don't know where i'm going with this. perhaps i just needed to air my confusion and sense of helplessness...perhaps if i let it out it will fly away and something will present itself...
1 comment:
it's not natural to always have suffering on the forefront of one's mind, and the fact that you're so bothered and aware of the human limits for "true" sympathy and effectiveness proves how great your empathy is.
btw, have we talked about jeanette winterson? because she's one of my favorite writers. we must have.
i wish the best for your friend
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