1000+ bloggers; Compassion, humanity needs it

 

Today I would normally be running my ‘words’ blog but I read yesterday about this 1000 speak blogathon.  Today 1000+ bloggers take to cyberspace to address the emotive subject that is compassion. There is no set format for this. Some will be blogging on individual problems some more general. I have hi-jacked my ‘words’ space for this purpose.

Compassion

According to the Oxford English Dictionary compassion means

1) Participation in another’s suffering, fellow feeling, sympathy

2) Pity inclining on to show mercy or give aid

3) Sorrowful emotion, grief.

The views here are mine and if I offend or irritate I apologize.

I don’t personally believe that compassion is about pity, not in the modern use of the word pity, which often appear to have overtones of condescension or even judgment about it. Not always but enough for me to avoid it.

I believe to feel compassion, as opposed to pity, one needs to exercise imagination; need to able to circumvent ‘self’ and become ‘other’.

Compassion bypasses judgment, prejudice and assumed knowledge

Imagination is needed to truly try and feel what the other feels. It’s not enough to just watch the news, read the papers and feel sympathetic and  pity misfortune.

Compassion is much more than sympathy, more than pity, much more than ‘there for the grace of God go I’, more than walking a mile in another’s shoes. It is about changing a whole mindset to become ‘other’

Compassion is not about

Religion
Politics,
Self interest
Nationality
Gendered

Compassion is not about charity, although that is needed.
Nor duty, although that can help a situation.
It is not directed merely to friends but also enemies
Compassion needs a powerful leap to comprehension.
Compassion is about being part of a whole, of life.
Compassion is not even just about human to human, all of life has a need for compassion.

It is not just about being kind, helpful or caring. It is about feeling the fear, despair or helplessness of another, to be able to hold a hand and say nothing, do nothing but be there; about quietly without thought of thanks or reward do something to alleviate. When I say reward I don’t mean monetary reward I mean feelings of self-reward. Compassion should be about doing, being, because doing, being, is what we do.

I make it sound easy but compassion, especially in the modern day bustle, is often one of the hardest things to achieve. I believe most of us  have it in us to have compassion for others. Maybe lives are busy or unraveling for us, maybe we have never exercised our minds and imagination in this way.  Maybe we are nervous of being ‘involved’  whatever, but I still believe we are capable of compassion.

Humanity needs it. On a personal level and on a global level, more and more as we become more over populated, humanity needs it.

Pretty poor round up:(

It hasn’t been a good week of writing or editing,as I have been a bit poorly.

I have been polishing up a whole new set of schedules for 2015. Having decided last year I needed more time just to relax, to leave the machine and catch up on other interests, to improve my decidedly up and down health. I have had to structure days in a way that has always been anathema to me. I have always winged it from preference. Routines do not suit me. I can do them, have had to at certain points of my life. It is not the way I envisaged my retirement, but then life is like that:)

I am being fairly good at keeping away from the keyboard for hours at a time. I don’t keep to the times I wrote down but I do get up and do other things at fairly regular intervals. I have managed to prise myself away from the keyboard for at least three hours every evening. Sometimes longer if I get stuck into a good read. I have designated one day for stuff like crafts, reading and later on the gardening.

What I am not so good at is keeping to what I plan to write that day, I wander from one to another. Training an undisciplined mind is hard! Mostly by the end of the week I have achieved most of what I wanted to do but more organization is needed.

Anyway my talk/discussion with the reading group was great fun I didn’t need to worry. The discussion flowed up and around, over and under, every aspect and more of Ellen’s Tale non stop.

Since then though have been under the weather, slight earache, throat and a lot of lethargy. So reading mostly this week. No editing done.

Have blogged about Freedom with fibre & birds,books & more birds, the Reading Group talk, Writers Quote and Words with a review on Mabinogoin & Confessions and a piece about book friends.

Hope everyone has had a more fruitful week that I have. All the best for coming week.

Brainstorming, reading. Writing?

A trifle behind this week as had friend from forever/editor staying at beginning, although we managed to keep away from writing until the end some useful brainstorming was managed.

Have finished the month well ahead of reading goals with 13 book out of my 75 planned. Not resting on those particular laurels, it’s January, it’s cold and I am confined to the house. I know when the weather improves I won’t have so much time to read.

 

 

 This Week ROW80

Writing: been research reading, brainstorming, counts? Oh yes:)

Blogging: Only Three Thing Thursday on Kissafrog
Author’s Quotes and short piece on the A rolling stone proverb   and it’s change over the years
Been researching refugees, and written a short blog about the subject
Have,though, managed to catch up and have next week’s posts drafted.

Networking: Triberr, Twitter x 2, Facebook and A Round of Words most days. Also Pinterest and Goodreads x 1

Reading: round up of books read this month;

Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers –    Reading Group
The Missing by Chris Mo                  Reading Group
The Age of Doubt by Andrea Camilleri –

Translated – Reading Group

Virgin Brides by Hua Gu- Translated
Maboingoin by Unknown- Translated – Literary Movement
Confessions by Saint Augustine of Hyppo-

Translated – Literary Movement

Discover your brand by Emlyn Chand-    N/Fic
Bonjour Blogger by Hayley Constantine- N/Fic
Twitter for Writers by Rayne Hall –  N/Fic

Another Man’s War by Sam Childers – Research for WIP
War, Conflict and Play by Tina Bruce – Research “
Refugee Women by Susan Forbes Martin -Research “
A Thousand Sisters by Lisa J Shannon –  Research “

LIFE IN GENERAL: Exercise not too good the cold has kept me indoors most of the month(I have trouble with breathing if air is cold) so walks haven’t been taken:( Fail
Scrumbles have been made x 2
Art journal page has been done x 2
Too cold for Garden
Went out for delicious dinner with three friends

NEXT WEEK: Feb I set aside along with March to begin editing The Children’s Tale and Memoirs – finishing missing bits and melding together chapters. So that is the plan all month. Must make effort and get more contact with various groups I belong to here onlne. Have begun reading an urban fantasy for some light relief in the book department:)

I hope everyone had a good week and will have another this week:)