Making empathy operational

The point here is that empathy (and most every other human emotion) can be cultivated (sadly, so can its opposite). It can be learned and acquired. We can practice feeling soft feelings like love, appreciation, gratitude and affection much as we practice a musical instrument or an athletic skill. And if other adult humans are too difficult to practice on directly, we can begin our practice with baby steps – with birds, with puppies, with kittens. Every time we do, the cells in our brain and body grow and make new connections such that over time we begin to feel increasingly comfortable with kindness, compassion, love and empathy. Which is our plastic brain’s and our healthy body’s basic, organic, default preference.