Do We Need Empathy?

It truly seems to be an intense year in our world and in all kinds of relationships. It is my intent to post two per month, but I have not posted a blog since June. My absence is not for lack of material but perhaps because I needed some time to survive and integrate what has been up for me.

For those of you who study Astrology you probably already know that this year begins a nearly three year series of aspects that have likely been kicking your butt and will likely continue to do so for another two years. Uranus and Pluto will be squaring each other 7 times from June 2012 until 2015. Apparently these planets are about transformation, the subconscious and the past. They help us shed what is not serving us. These squares are believed to be the aspects that created the cultural changes of the 1960’s.

I know little of this, but a lot about what has been happening with me and with my clients. It seems to be a time where our tendency to be letting go of the past and of past losses is increased. It is a time where we may be confronting what is not working within ourselves and in our relationships on a deeper level. This is a fertile time for me to begin, and hopefully complete my next book, which will be about “Creating Nurturing Relationships.” It will involve a simple yet deep inquiry into asking: What do we need? What do we need to feel connected and nurtured in relationships? How can we create nurturing relationships? I have been planning this book for over 10 years.

I began writing blogs about this a few weeks ago, and as is so often the case, I find it challenging to keep to simple topics or less than 600 words 🙂 So I paused and am beginning here by asking you to ponder these questions: What do you need? (In general, think simple and big); And more specifically to the topic of transforming of the past, what do you need when you feel hurt and angry to be more able to let go of a relationship pattern, forgive and return to love?

With this second question you might notice something along the lines that you need to feel heard or empathized with. If that is the case, then I would like to add another kind of question: What helps you feel heard? What helps you feel that another is empathizing with you? How does empathy help you return to love?

These questions and topics are not the beginning of the books material. They are some of the more subtle ones I’ll address in the later half of the book but I share them with you now because I think they are timely questions. I even hear their relevance in the United States political arena as we approach a presidential election. How do we move forward?

Please let me know what you think and feel:

What do you need? (In general, think simple and big)

What do you need when you feel hurt and angry to be more able to let go of a relationship pattern, forgive and return to love?

What helps you feel heard?

What helps you feel that another is empathizing with you?

How does empathy help you return to love?

What do we need to move forward?

More soon,

Peter