Higher Order Compassion
Maintaining intimate connections that have been damaged requires that we go beyond the limitations of empathy (described in my last post) and reach for a higher order compassion for vulnerabilities we do not share.
For example, it’s relatively easy to empathize with people who have lost their sight, because you can close your eyes and imagine how bad that would be. But you need a higher form of compassion for those born without sight, because you cannot imagine what it would be like to have a braindevoid of visual imagery. You cannot fathom it because your brain has developed complex circuitry permeated with visual imagery.
