Page 8 - February 2021 Voices

COVER STORY

finances, being evacuated from her home due question of: What would I do if I were that
to an uncontrolled wildfire, feeling concerned person? Or, what would I do if I were in that
for other people’s well-being, unsure whether situation?
or not she could take time off work, staying in As judgment is a natural part of us, so is

someone’s home—with two toddlers, two cats compassion. Some scientists, such as Dr. Kelly
(one that peed everywhere), a dog (that liked McGonigal (author of Science of Compassion:
to pee on furniture), and rabbits—and last, but A Modern Approach for Cultivating Empathy,
not least, no knowledge of when they could Love, and Connection) offer that “Compassion

return home, if they still had a home. Stephanie is embedded in our biology.” Human behavior
was spending the time on the phone trying research has drawn the conclusion that
to 1) soothe the overwhelming anxiety with compassion is an instinct, one that competes with
distraction and 2) trying to find answers to the other instincts such as: anger, avoidance, escape,

ever-gnawing questions and concerns that were fear, and so on. In other words, for our survival
creating a genuine sense of fear. In that moment, as a species, we have developed an instinct for
she was doing the best that she could. positive connection; to recognize suffering in
With that added information, where does others and do something to alleviate it.

your mind go now? What feelings are you having Perhaps you are wondering, if that is the case
now? then, why are there not more acts of compassion
It is human nature to judge. It is rooted in happening? Maybe for you it feels like people
our ability to try and understand, learn from are more focused on themselves or dividing on

experiences, and make predictions. We often beliefs, ideology, and politics. Let us consider
look at people and circumstances from the what may be happening for those people.
I think it is not far-fetched to say that
the events in our world have been very

de-regulating, meaning that they have
thrown us into a place of ‘flight, fight, or
freeze’ or, in some cases ‘fawn’. What is
our core purpose for those responses? It

is to bring us back to a sense of safety. It
is to remove oneself from a perceived
threat, or make the perceived threat go
away. In this context, compassion can be

driven motivations and values or it can be
a “coordinated response in the brain and
body” that is allowed when circumstances
are in place that grant us the ability to live

and enact the value of compassion. What

8 ONE COMMUNITY