The Importance of Empathy

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Kindness can be easy, but it can also have stakes and risk.

The fear of being naive can short-circuit acts of kindness.

Not knowing the “kind” thing to do is also a barrier to kindness.

But this unknowing and vulnerability is where bravery—and kindness—begin.

A couple of weeks ago, after a hiking accident, I found myself in a hospital. Despite feeling raw, when the doctor entered, I noticed something about his scrubs. They were inside-out.

I didn’t say anything at first, but my internal monologue was on it: Does he know? Would it be kind to say something? Or is it not my business… and just awkward?

But as he handed me my discharge papers, I decided to go for it. In response, he paused and deadpanned: “Most scrubs are reversible.” In other words, they were fine.

It was mildly embarrassing, but also clarifying. Not about hospital attire, but about something else: Kindness isn’t just about getting it right. It’s about taking the risk of getting it wrong.

Brave Kindness in Space

I thought back to that moment in the ER as I sat in a theater watching Project Hail Mary. The new sci-fi movie starring Ryan Gosling, based on the book by Andy Weir, is a story about survival and friendship between two very different beings trying to save their planets.

At one point, the alien, Rocky, offers that........

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