All my life I have been an empath even if I didn’t know it. 95% of my estate is going to organizations who help people with their struggles in life or to people themselves. That just seems natural to me. … Continue reading Self-Focus vs. Empathy
And mine is especially so. I realized from a very young age that I was different from most around me. As a young boy I was supposed to be entranced by sports, but the opposite was the case for me. … Continue reading A Mind Is A Strange Thing
“We must never be afraid to be a sign of contradiction for the world.” — Mother Teresa — Mother Teresa was certainly a contradiction in her time. She often said she was not totally sure that God even existed! She … Continue reading Quotes – A Sign Of Contradiction
For most of RJsCorner existence, I have been “Having My Say” in 500 words or less. I do enjoy the challenge of just 500 words, but there are times when I need more, sometimes much more. That’s what “Contemplations” is going to be all about. Continue reading Contemplations On Life… Coming In 2025
In my mind, empathy is what makes my life worth living. Helping others with their struggle through life. In that regard, it is important to understand just what empathy is all about. Continue reading Empathy Without Action Is…
These next two post in the series will probably be the most difficult to write. But they were also the time I came across the most empathic person I have ever known. I finished off the last post on this … Continue reading End of Life Trauma Part 8 – Hospice (continued)
Part of my Aspie traits is that I take things much more personally than most. I have a lot of empathy, but it seems it takes a form that is different from most folks. I see someone’s personal hardships and … Continue reading Premonitions
I think it is time for another Aspie lesson on RJsCorner. This one is a very basic question Are Aspies Narcissists? One Aspie characteristic that I have in spades is I take things much more personally than NTs. I should … Continue reading About Aspies & Narcissism?
I am often a contrarian when it comes to views of today’s world, so for this my 74th birthday I want to post a view of America that I still believe in. Maybe I believe in an America that no … Continue reading I Believe In A Different America
As usual David Brooks of the New York Times and PBS Newshour spurred this post by his words below This is a hard, exhausting time. But it’s also a pivot point. An idealistic generation is rising on the scene hungering … Continue reading Excessive Individualistic Culture?
Why are we as a country, and maybe even a world, so split between empathy and apathy? Why is the chasm so deep between us in that regard? To me empathy is what Jesus came to teach us. He said … Continue reading Empathy vs Apathy
Because of my Aspie traits I have lived a good portion of my life feeling I am alone in this world. No one else seemed to see the world as I did. So, when in college in the 1960s I came across the words
I am a rock I am an island ... And a rock feels no pain An island doesn't cry.Continue reading “I Am A Rock, I Am An Island, I Am An Altruist”
I’ve been thinking about what I will leave as my legacy. Everyone wants to believe that they left this world a little better off because they were here. That is what this post is all about.
Continue reading “Everyone Should Have A Place At The Table”
I am convinced that, as a general rule, my Republican friends pretty much lack empathy to any degree. I know this could be “painting with a broad brush” type thing but hear me out. I find example after example of this fact in my daily life. Let me give you a few examples. I have a Republican friend who goes on and on about how all those people on welfare are freeloaders. To him, they are just too lazy to go out and get a job. I try to tell him that on the average most people are on welfare … Continue reading About Empathy
I am a dreamer, always have been and always will be. When times are bad I dream of better times. When times are good I thank the Lord. I have always dreamed that every citizen of our country has at least an ounce of empathy and two ounces of brains. I have come to doubt that belief, especially since the person in the Oval Office doesn’t even seem to pass the bill. I guess this particular dream will have to wait a while before it can be realized. Now don’t misunderstand me, I don’t expect everyone to be overflowing with … Continue reading An Ounce Of Empathy & Two Ounces Of Brains
A good portion of my life was spent around someone who lived in a world of pretend. My mother was that person. She abandoned me, my brother, and her husband when I was about ten years old to marry someone much richer who could provide her with the luxuries she so wanted in life. I would not have any sort of relationship with her again until twenty years later when that husband divorced her to marry his much younger secretary. It was not until this re-introduction that I realized that she primarily lived in a world of pretend. Reality had … Continue reading The World of Pretend…
That is the moral-ideological core of conservatism today. It presumes that life is a competition or race, that people are unequal in talent, drive, and ambition, and that those who end up on top deserve their victory and rewards — and those who come out on the bottom deserve their failure and hardships. Any attempt to overturn or even mitigate this moral order — whether through government regulation or changes in habits or assumptions in school or on the playground — amounts to an offense against justice itself. Source: What defines conservatism today? I want to spend a few posts … Continue reading They Deserve Their Failure….
I want to pen some final words about Pope Francis here. The title of this post is a recent quote from him that truly inspires me. There are just too many people in the world to who the very idea of hope seems unknowable. They live in such despair that all they can manage is just surviving day-to-day. It is said that Pope Francis views the world from the Bottom up. I have never thought of it in those terms but it is an accurate portrayal of him and I hope to a certain degree myself. Most of us, especially those … Continue reading Living On The Outskirts Of Hope…
Your Holiness, in your words and deeds, you set a profound moral example. And in these gentle but firm reminders of our obligations to God and to one another, you are shaking us out of complacency. All of us may, at times, experience discomfort when we contemplate the distance between how we lead our daily lives and what we know to be true and right. But I believe such discomfort is a blessing, for it points to something better. You shake our conscience from slumber; you call on us to rejoice in Good News, and give us confidence that we … Continue reading President Obama’s welcoming speech to Pope Francis
Some of us seem to totally lack empathy for others. Sadly the lack of empathy seems to be almost a requirement for GOP candidates these days. I know Paul Ryan who is one of the heroes on the Republican party celebrates his common bonds with his hero Ayn Rand who made it very clear that to her empathy is a severe handicap in society rather than an asset. Of course the lack of empathy is clearly shown by those who have voted more than fifty time to take affordable healthcare away from millions of our nation’s citizens. Some among us just … Continue reading Empathy Is Imagining Yourself In Someone Else’s Shoes…
With this post I will conclude my discussion about what might make the wealthy among us seem so callous to others needs. The source for these posts came as a surprise to me. Here is some more quotes from that article. A UCLA neuroscientist named Keely Muscatell has published an interesting paper showing that wealth quiets the nerves in the brain associated with empathy: If you show rich people and poor people pictures of kids with cancer, the poor people’s brains exhibit a great deal more activity than the rich people’s. (An inability to empathize with others has just got … Continue reading What Wealth Does To Your Soul – Part 2
RJ's Corner - Having My Say 