{"id":3728,"date":"2012-08-22T06:35:57","date_gmt":"2012-08-22T10:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/blissblog\/?p=3728"},"modified":"2012-08-22T06:35:57","modified_gmt":"2012-08-22T10:35:57","slug":"world-empathy-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/08\/world-empathy-day.html","title":{"rendered":"World Empathy Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Imagine a holiday occurring every week, rathter than just once a year and with its arrival, it brings with it an opportunity for harmonious living. Guess what folks, TODAY is that day.\u00a0\u00a0Dubbed World Empathy Day, by\u00a0 corporate speaker and workshop facilitator Rick Goodfriend (great name for someone who teaches compassionate communication). it\u00a0shows up on the calendar each Wednesday and reflects the teachings of Marshall Rosenberg, creator of\u00a0 Nonviolent Communiation (NVC)\u00a0In his book entitled: Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life, he defines empathy as “a respectful understanding of what others are experiencing.”\u00a0 Goodfriend is also a teacher of NVC.<\/p>\n

How to do that, you ponder, since it seems at times that we are hardwired to only view the world and the people in it through our own narrow lens of how it all impacts on us? \u00a0I call it ‘center of the Universe-itis’ that often has me in its snarly grip. Everything from petty annoyances of my son leaving dishes in the sink when it would be SOOO much easier for him to simply put them in the dishwasher, to outright outrage over what I see in the media about the state of the planet. It’s all a reflection of my thoughts anyway, h0w I choose to interact with those events. I look at\u00a0 people\u00a0whose\u00a0political beliefs differ from my own and wonder how they could hold those views. I witness people doing hateful and destructive things (sometimes in the name of religion) and can’t imagine if they have a conscience. I’m sure that there are some who look at me and the ways in which I choose to live my own life and can’t fathom my choices either. As my father would have said, “Different strokes for different folks.”<\/p>\n

I have recently become fascinated with the construct of\u00a0 mirror neurons; the system in the brain that recognizes common threads between us. It may explain why when someone falls and gets injured, we flinch and it may show us how people get so emotionally charged over a sporting event even when they are not on the field. It may also hold clues to the concept of empathy and why there is a seeming disconnect for people with sociopathic tendencies. It also explains a phenom that I have seen on Facebook. When people put forth a request for prayers, responses come whirling in from all corners of the world, even if those responding have never layed eyes on those who are asking. We really are all so connected.<\/p>\n

It also helps to know, that at our core, regardless of upbringing, beliefs and doctrine, we all share needs for love, understanding, a sense of belonging, a purpose, peace of mind, security, freedom and ability to express ourselves. Perhaps our\u00a0verbal and non-verbal\u00a0expression of those needs isn’t always the most graceful and that is where a healthy dose of empathy comes in handy. Imagine a world in which we really could ‘walk a mile in someone elses’ moccasins’.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/youtu.be\/OCiLxRCBf40<\/a>\u00a0Get Together by Jesse Colin Young and The Youngbloods<\/p>\n

www.pbs.org\/wgbh\/nova\/body\/mirror-neurons.html<\/a> NOVA Mirror Neurons<\/p>\n

www.emapthyday.com<\/a>\u00a0 World Empathy Day website<\/p>\n

www.walkyourtalk.org<\/a> Rick Goodfriend<\/p>\n

www.nonviolentcommunication.com<\/a> NVC website<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imagine a holiday occurring every week, rathter than just once a year and with its arrival, it brings with it an opportunity for harmonious living. Guess what folks, TODAY is that day.\u00a0\u00a0Dubbed World Empathy Day, by\u00a0 corporate speaker and workshop facilitator Rick Goodfriend (great name for someone who teaches compassionate communication). it\u00a0shows up on the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":233,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,1,2,13,8,70,19,14,4,16,7],"tags":[2112,308,2114,2113,2109,2116,2111,2117,2110,2108,2115,2107],"class_list":["post-3728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-affirmations","category-attracting-what-you-desire","category-bliss","category-blissfull-thinking","category-communication","category-community","category-empowerment","category-how-to-invite-bliss","category-inspiration","category-my-personal-bliss","category-re-creating-your-life","tag-empathy","tag-facebook","tag-get-together","tag-jesse-colin-young","tag-marshall-rosenberg","tag-mirror-neurons","tag-nonviolent-communication","tag-nova","tag-nvc","tag-rick-goodfriend","tag-the-youngbloods","tag-world-empathy-day-wednesday"],"yoast_head":"\nWorld Empathy Day - The Bliss Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/08\/world-empathy-day.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"World Empathy Day - The Bliss Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Imagine a holiday occurring every week, rathter than just once a year and with its arrival, it brings with it an opportunity for harmonious living. Guess what folks, TODAY is that day.\u00a0\u00a0Dubbed World Empathy Day, by\u00a0 corporate speaker and workshop facilitator Rick Goodfriend (great name for someone who teaches compassionate communication). it\u00a0shows up on the…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/08\/world-empathy-day.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bliss Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/snuggleyoga\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-08-22T10:35:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/blissblog\/files\/2012\/08\/moccasins.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EdieWeinstein1\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"World Empathy Day - The Bliss Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/08\/world-empathy-day.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"World Empathy Day - The Bliss Blog","og_description":"Imagine a holiday occurring every week, rathter than just once a year and with its arrival, it brings with it an opportunity for harmonious living. Guess what folks, TODAY is that day.\u00a0\u00a0Dubbed World Empathy Day, by\u00a0 corporate speaker and workshop facilitator Rick Goodfriend (great name for someone who teaches compassionate communication). it\u00a0shows up on the…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/08\/world-empathy-day.html","og_site_name":"The Bliss Blog","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/snuggleyoga","article_published_time":"2012-08-22T10:35:57+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/blissblog\/files\/2012\/08\/moccasins.gif"}],"author":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EdieWeinstein1","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/08\/world-empathy-day.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/08\/world-empathy-day.html","name":"World Empathy Day - The Bliss Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/08\/world-empathy-day.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/08\/world-empathy-day.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/blissblog\/files\/2012\/08\/moccasins.gif","datePublished":"2012-08-22T10:35:57+00:00","dateModified":"2012-08-22T10:35:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#\/schema\/person\/edcd643a643a9ca91adb1e8f9e177386"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/08\/world-empathy-day.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/08\/world-empathy-day.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/08\/world-empathy-day.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/blissblog\/files\/2012\/08\/moccasins.gif","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/blissblog\/files\/2012\/08\/moccasins.gif"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2012\/08\/world-empathy-day.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"World Empathy Day"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/","name":"The Bliss Blog","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Edie Weinstein","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#\/schema\/person\/edcd643a643a9ca91adb1e8f9e177386","name":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/0d6\/0d6cd7619da51a9a40cc705280e88f9cx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/0d6\/0d6cd7619da51a9a40cc705280e88f9cx96.jpg","caption":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW"},"description":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW is a colorfully creative journalist, inspiring transformational speaker, licensed social worker, interfaith minister, editor, radio host, BLISS coach, event producer, Cosmic Concierge, the author of The Bliss Mistress Guide To Transforming The Ordinary Into The Extraordinary and co-author of Embraced By the Divine: The Emerging Woman\u2019s Gateway to Power, Passion and Purpose. She has also contributed to several anthologies and personal growth books. Edie has interviewed such notables as Ram Dass, Wayne Dyer, Debbie Ford, don Miguel Ruiz, don Miguel Ruiz, Jr. Marianne Williamson, Grover Washington, Jr. Noah Levine, Shirley MacLaine, Dennis Weaver, Ben and Jerry and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. She calls herself an Opti-mystic who sees the world through the eyes of possibility. Edie is the founder of Hug Mobsters Armed With Love, which offers FREE HUGS events on a planned and spontaneous basis. www.opti-mystical.com.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.opti-mystical.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/snuggleyoga","https:\/\/x.com\/EdieWeinstein1"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/author\/eweinstein"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/233"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3728"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3734,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3728\/revisions\/3734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}