Most of the time, I find it easy to put myself in someone else’s shoes. I noticed that as I get older, it becomes less difficult for me to sympathize with other people. I believe that your ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes has a lot to do with what you have experienced throughout your life time. Brooks talks in her essay about the complicated birth of her son and how she uses that experience in her writing. While I am still young, I have already made a number of experiences that help me sympathize with people. I agree with Brooks that emotions are what sticks with us while details about situations are forgotten first. I know the feeling of being in love as well as the feeling of being heartbroken. I know the feeling of missing my family who lives on a different continent as well as the feeling of celebrating Christmas Eve with all the people who are important to me. I remember how I felt when I found out that one of my friends had committed suicide, and I remember how it felt when I found out that my mother was expecting my baby brother. I use my experiences to put myself in someone else’s shoes, so I can empathize with other people. I don’t think that it is necessary to experience the exact same situation in order to be able to sympathize with someone. Often times, it is enough to have experienced a certain kind of emotion to know how a person must have felt in a certain situation. For example, the loss of a loved one brings about a certain kind of sadness. This sadness, in whatever form, is experienced by anyone who loses something precious. It does not matter if you lose your mother, friend, or anything else dear to your heart. Therefore, I use my experience to put myself into someone else’s shoes, which works well if I have experienced a similar emotional state than that person. `
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Mizuki said,
July 25, 2009 @ 8:49 am
It was interesting that you said as you got older, it became less difficult to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. It is very true! When I was a child, I was very comfortable getting along with all of my friends as the age, but now, definitely adulthood tells me much more sympathetic feeling and also joy of sharing happiness, and these are based on experiences. I agree with your view which experiences are the major elements that put us in someone else’s shoes.
Susan B said,
July 26, 2009 @ 11:41 pm
I enjoyed your blog. I agree with you that our experiences in life help us to relate to others. I used the term emotional memories in my blog. It is with the aid of those memories that we are able to feel what the other person is going through.