I believe that most of our collective issues arise from differences in perspective.
I see it this way. You see it that way. They see it the other way.
My group cares about the right things. Your group cares about the wrong things. The other group is evil.
I also believe that solutions to our collective issues derive from empathy.
The best way I’ve found to engage empathy is to care about, seek out, and genuinely try to understand other perspectives. The proverbial walk a mile in another’s shoes. The more we latch into another’s perspective, the better we understand what they think and feel and, more importantly, why they think and feel.
Perspectives are built through personal history, and personal histories are stories of experiences, sights and sounds, group affiliation, and even geography. The world looks different, sounds different, and tastes different over here.
One of the best methods for broadening perspective is to change geography, if even for a short time.
It’s a big world. Get out there and explore.
