Empathy & the Transmigration of Story
My belly was huge. I felt like a small planet, Pluto, perhaps, before it was downgraded. This was my third baby in three years and my body felt so stretched, my joints wrenched, my skin like that of an over-ripe apricot ready to burst.
Tired out from a day of trying to keep up with my two toddlers, I slumped down on my beanbag in front of the telly and switched on the cartoons desperately hoping for a bit of peace and quiet in exchange for half an hour of CBeebies.
Except the regular children’s tv wasn’t broadcasting. Instead there was ‘breaking news’ footage of a plane flying into a tall building.
We can probably all remember where we were when we first saw that devastating image, that jet, that blue sky, that fireball. We can probably all situate that story of heartbreaking loss and mind-numbing horror into our own personal stories.
It didn’t matter that it was happening on American soil, because this tragedy bled out across borders and embedded itself into the collective consciousness – it excoriated a line through history so deep that there would now always be a time before 9/11 and a time after.
Over today, I expect a great many people to post their stories, and I considered that maybe I wouldn’t. After all, while my story is significant to me it is not one which is of any real relevance to anyone else.
Except that the sharing of our stories is where empathy lies. When I hear your story, just for a moment, I am in your shoes. I am seeing life through your eyes. I am sharing your experience, your response, your emotions. When I share my story in return, you do the same and we make a new connection. The result of this emotional resonance is empathy.
So that’s why I’ve shared my story. That’s why I’m going to be reading the stories that you choose to share. That’s why we all need to continue to share our stories. Because when we stop sharing, we stop communicating, we stop connecting, we stop caring. And we cannot allow that to happen.
Sending love to all those both directly and indirectly affected by the terror attacks of 9/11.
