Never has empathy and connection been more needed!
Today is #EmpathyDay and there is a fantastic programme of fun home based activity online that you can join in with, such as reading books! Scientists have said that by reading books and learning about characters, this improves how we understand other people’s feelings in our everyday lives!
But what does it mean to show empathy?
Our Youth Engagement Team had a conversation this morning about what empathy meant to them. Sam explained that for him, “empathy shows solidarity rather than sympathy” – with Ollie chipping in that, “you can be empathetic towards somebody, and you can relate to somebody, you don’t need to have experiences it yourself to show empathy”, with Andy adding, “..but you can show empathy through your own experiences too”, you may do this by offering examples of when situations might have occurred where you felt a similar feeling or emotions, “..and that might make you more empathetic?” Andy questions.
One definition of empathy is, “the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from your own lived experience, to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and see things from their perspective.” A Resilient Move that would support empathy is, “understand other people’s feelings” – how do you do this?
Look at this amazing art work that our wonderful co-leaders of the Resilience Revolution at Moor Park Primary School have produced this morning – how often do we stop and reflect on what we and others around us are feeling?
If you would like to get involved in more activities, you can visit: https://www.empathylab.uk/empathy-day
#RR #UnderstandingOtherPeoplesFeelings #EmpathyDay #GetBlackpoolReading
@literacy_trust @BPoolLibraries @moor_park_BPL
