One early morning a few weeks ago, while walking my dog Rosie, we came across a woman looking pretty distressed, searching through the bushes while her two dogs were barking and pulling on the lead.
I approached her to see if she was ok.
She was on the verge of tears, explaining that one of her dogs had accidentally hurt a pigeon, and she was trying to find it in the underbrush. I offered to hold her dogs and walk them away from the ‘crime scene’.
We found the pigeon, its tiny heart racing and one wing seemingly injured. The woman, Amanda, was at a loss. “What should we do? Should I call Wildlife Services” she asked. I suggested we take her to a nearby vet, hoping they could assist.
We walked over to Amanda’s house around the corner, carefully setting the pigeon on a soft towel in a box. I found myself offering quiet words of hope to the poorly bird.
Then Amanda looked at me, tears in her eyes “I think she’s gone.” I put my hand on the pigeon and confirmed that she was right. The pigeon had passed away. We both welled up as I was gently patting the pigeon, trying to offer some comfort to Amanda. I mentioned that maybe this pigeon was meant to transition that day. Sometimes things in nature happen that we can’t quite understand. The universe has its own ways of working.
Reflecting on this story led me to ponder my own feelings of empathy and compassion: Do they extend more towards animals than humans?! And if so, is this ‘normal’ or am I ‘bad’ because I sometimes care more for animals?!
I came to the realisation that my empathy levels are generally lower for humans who whine about ‘ignorant rich people problems’. And high for humans who are at a disadvantage, treated unfairly or facing hardship.
When it comes to animals though, I feel sadness because they can’t ask for help or verbalise how they feel… or at least, we can’t always understand them… something to work on by raising our vibrations (a topic for another day!).
This pigeon story also made me think about the difference between empathy and compassion.
Empathy is understanding and sharing feelings.
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. It involves putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and experiencing, to some extent, the emotions they are feeling. Empathy can be emotional, where you literally feel what another person is feeling, or cognitive, where you intellectually understand their emotions and perspective without necessarily feeling them yourself.
Compassion on the other hand is empathy in action.
Compassion takes empathy a step further. It’s not only understanding and sharing the feelings of others but also having a desire to help alleviate their suffering. Compassion involves an active wish to assist or be of service to others who are in distress. It’s empathy translated into action. While empathy can be seen as feeling with someone, compassion is about feeling for someone and being moved to help them.
They are both important skills and there’s a time and place for both.
So… what’s the moral of the story?
Shared empathy and compassion brings people together. Amanda and I were strangers before the pigeon incident. Now we always connect when we see each other. She even kindly offered to look after my kids sometime, I hope her dogs won’t join her (just kidding!).
Isn’t it strange and wonderful how a small, shared experience, even a sad one, can bring people together and create new friendships.
A single act of kindness towards a small creature can unfold the wings of empathy, bringing human souls closer. Kindness is the truest language of connection.
#empathy #compassion #kindness #momentsofhumanity