Did anyone care to find out why he was “scary” and try to determine a way to change that? In the aftermath of the most recent school shooting in the USA, blogger Hasty Words asked this question. It got me thinking – can we reach out to others in pain and with our love and compassion steer them away from … Read More
Facing the Pain Head On
Until last Monday, if I thought about Stanford University it was as the venue of the infamous Stanford Prison experiment, in which Professor Philip Zimbardo and his team recruited students to act as “prisoners” and “guards.” The plan was for the experiment to last for two weeks but it ended after just six days because of cruelty by the guards … Read More
Make Friends With Your Inner Bully
“People who feel shame and self-judgement are more likely to blame others for their moral failures.” So says, Kristin Neff in her book Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself. Neff is a professor at the University of Texas, and has spent over a decade studying the effects of having or not having self-compassion. She says that anger … Read More
He Is Worthy of Compassion
A friend and I were walking home after shopping, two days before Christmas. It was already dark, and though I was wrapped in a thick coat and scarf, the cold hit my face. It would freeze again soon. The street was crowded with shoppers, talking, walking, or waiting for buses. A few people walked past arm in arm, on their … Read More
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