| Solidarity and Empathy |
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| Wednesday, 03 June 2009 09:24 | |||
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The Vukelic Family Today I learned just how important solidarity
and empathy towards the poor truly is. I pride myself on being able to
sympathize with other people, even when I express my goofy personality.
My mother and I love to laugh alot. So when she came home from work and
we started to prepare our dinner of spaghetti and tomato sauce and
bread Soon enough I had started the "can we afford this game". "Mom,
can we afford this can opener?" "Can you afford the headband your
wearing?" Can we afford to listen to music on a CD player?" No sooner
than I had started the game I wanted to finish it. I felt bad, like I
was making fun of people living in poverty. God teaches us to be
colorblind. So what right did I have to be criticizing people for my
own enjoyment? I felt disgusted. I wanted to take it back. I felt
ignorant, and expressed that to my mother. She helped me realize
that only when we recognize our own imperfections ourselves is when we
can get the courage to work on those peoples behalves. Perhaps this is
what the experiment is about. Becoming aware of another way of life, if
even for a few days, and experiencing feelings from a different
perspective. That is true empathy. In order for a change to occur we
must step outside our comfort zone. Music is a passion of mine. A tool
I can use to relax and spend time with my own thoughts. Music is truly
universal in any situation. It is also considered a luxury. That is the
luxury I have given up for the two days. Being without vices like
technology when a family is put into a situation that can quite frankly
put members on edge(which has happened)glaringly emphasizes the values
of human interaction and patience and family togetherness. It takes a
very strong unit to not only provide resources physically, but
emotionally take care of each other too.
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