The Importance of Empathy

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A vibrant center is not a complacent middle, but an active, conscious encounter with the paradoxes of life.

The vibrant center is based on three pillars: presence, openness to experience, and discernment.

We need to elect leaders who embody a vibrant-centered consciousness to survive let alone thrive.

As a psychologist with over 40 years of clinical experience, it is clear to me that our suffering as a nation is more than just political or cultural; it is profoundly psychospiritual. It is at the heart of our freedom to live—and let live. Can we hold contrasting, even contradictory, views without destroying each other? In this light, I’ve long recognized that most—if not all—power centers throughout history based their leadership on a pre-set dogma, royal bloodlines, or reactive tyranny.

The U.S., however, has been a real bewilderment for me (and I know for many of us). How could a country that was founded on a deliberative, evolving idea—that all people are created equal, with a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—be the same country that committed a virtual genocide on the native peoples of its land; that enslaved people; and that treated women and other marginalized groups as second-class citizens?

And then it struck me: We’re in over our heads! This is why the American Experiment has been so rare throughout history. People have known how difficult it is for a democratic republic to flourish. This conundrum struck me especially hard recently when my wife and I saw the current Tony Award-winning play Schmigadoon! On the surface, it is a play about a couple from New York City who began their relationship with the liveliness and glee many couples in contemporary America start with. But the play goes much........

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