Vulnerable
My child has been at risk since the day of her premature birth. Every venture into public spaces, is a gamble. Avoidance of any virus is vital. We have been semi-isolated, hand sanitizer laden, for roughly two years. Our daily circumstance now applies to the masses. What once was our vulnerability, has become that of many. This causes me to wonder, and not exclusively in regards to our situation, what ever happened to empathy?
Empathy is vital to humanity. We are experiencing a point in society where the youth and elderly alike, beg for action to protect their futures. Too often those unaffected remain easily swayed by convenience, politics, or personal gain, when we should be moved by compassion. To extend empathy is not courtesy, it is being human. We each cry out open-ended pleas for consideration; but how many of us are listening?
I think of the past 86 weeks of international school strikes taking place for climate change. Our youth have been consistently asking to secure their future wellbeing, to address greenhouse gas emissions. Have we listened or made any significant act of response? Not yet. Let’s be honest, the youth suffers from other, urgent and active areas we also neglect: underfunded schools, trauma saturated fostering systems, sex trafficking. They continue to protest for real action, and yet often meet dismissive criticisms or no response at all. “Do you care about us or our future?” they continue to ask into the void.
Likewise, Covid-19 spreads like wildfire through our cities. The elderly and immunocompromised rely on preventive measures of all who surround them. They sit, quarantined from the outside world, not built strong enough to be deemed ‘essential personnel’ of any type, with an echo of the same cry. They say, “Here am I, vulnerable.” Lives of loved ones have been lost, yet we hungrily snatch cheap airfare. We wash our hands, and quickly focus inward, changing the conversation from , “I see you.” to “How much will this affect my life?”
Each camp shouts the same message. What I recognize is the heart behind these beseeching voices, because it matches my own. My desire to protect our girls from sickness they are not physically prepared to overcome- vulnerability. From experience, I can clearly identify the emotions of panic and loneliness playing out in others, especially as of late. I relate in having strived to balance caution and worry. I have exhausted myself and given the situation to God, only to turn around and try to control it again and again. With this pandemic, we now share common ground on an already existent tendency: fear.
We are forever prone to fear. Contagious isn’t it? It breached our boarders long before any confirmed cases of Covid-19 did. Concerning anxiety, we are most vulnerable in isolation. We are more susceptible to panic and self-seeking behaviors when left to our limited perspectives, and resources. If we are to stand any ground, let alone improve upon our world, we must all seek to overcome our fears by hope, and through empathy.
We are asked to maintain social distancing, yet in some ways, sadly, we have already put far more than six feet between ourselves and those different from us. Our circumstances, the family we are born into, et cetera, and they have all colored the way we look at the world. Many parts create our schema. Every indicator of who you are, is a characteristic that may differ from another person, and because of that, these aspects can distance you from understanding the trials of someone else; but they needn’t. We do not need to share someone’s reality to seek understanding and actively loving them. Empathy is education in its purest form. If we want unbiased truth and unskewed reality, we rely on becoming socially connected.
Empathy cannot survive without connection, relationship, and diversity. Being good natured and well mannered doesn’t move you outside of yourself. Decency is not enough. Empathy requires a shifting point of reference. You must uproot and place yourself shoulder to shoulder with another, to fully grasp their vulnerabilities.
The world is in multifaceted crisis; environmental, biological, and spiritual.
Our vulnerabilities are not weaknesses, but opportunities to build relationships and understandings. In obtaining a willingness to reposition our perspective, we realize the needs of others, through every generation and demographic. By serving and reaching out to each other, we will find provision. This is simply community. Seek out diversity of all variations, and strive to connect and better understand all who cross your path. Ironically, in this time of social distancing, I believe empathy could lead us to continuity.
This is no lecture, but an observation of space to better incorporate gentleness, patience, and kindness, in our actions. This is highlighting an already present opportunity to ask, “How can we start to better acknowledge the needs of one another?” My hope is that through today’s struggles, we may collectively gain wisdom, and a greater desire to build empathy. This writing is also my way of answering to you who wonder if any one sees you in this cyclone of chaos-yes, I do. It is scary to be vulnerable, but you are not alone. Let’s be brave in exposing our need and wise to grow in empathy, tending to one another’s vulnerabilities.
