I empathize with the people around me because I recall what it was like to be in their situation. It feels like I’m reliving those moments from my past, reflecting on how I would want to be treated if I were in their shoes.
It feels like I’m doing things on the outside, looking in, looking back, and seeing myself through the eyes of my future self.
I find myself fully present in the moment yet simultaneously connected to all the moments of my life—looking in, looking back, looking forward. I am both the doer and the one affected by the actions of my future self.
Empathy feels like traveling through time, becoming the ancestor I wish to have.
Photo credit: AI-generated image with a prompt “mirror within a mirror within a mirror.“