Compassion
- Brooklyn, The Medium
- Apr 8
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 19
The Power of Compassion
“We can’t heal the world today but we can begin with a voice of compassion, a heart of love, an act of kindness.” – Mary Davis
Compassion is caring about how someone feels, with the added motivation to support them during a difficult time. It’s different from empathy, which is simply feeling with someone. To summarise:
Empathy = I feel your pain.
Compassion = I feel your pain and I want to help.
We are often invited to have compassion for ourselves and others during challenging times. In light of the full moon on April 13th — a time of shedding, letting go, and clearing old versions of ourselves — it feels perfect to share this reflection. As we make space for new, integrated, authentic, and connected versions of self, compassion becomes one of our most powerful tools.
So what does compassion really look, sound, and feel like?
Recognising the Call for Compassion
When we witness someone in emotional distress, it can trigger an alertness within us: What do I do? Begin simply by asking them two questions:
“Are you okay?”
“What do you need?”
Let them guide the space and relationship based on what they need. Often, the best support is to simply hold space — to allow emotions, thoughts, and feelings to express, surface, and breathe without rushing to fix them.
The first step in any emotional healing is acceptance:
Acceptance of the thought, feeling, belief, or action.
Acceptance of awareness itself.
Acceptance of your own vulnerability in the process.
Without acceptance, no real emotional work can happen.
Creating a Safe Space
In the presence of acceptance, there is an absence of guilt, shame, blame, and judgment. These emotions can cause someone to shut down, disconnect, and put their walls back up. Compassion means gathering your thoughts, opinions, and unsolicited advice — and pocketing them away for now. They don’t need fixing. They need presence. Trust that they are intelligent, wise souls with their own internal navigation system. The answers lie within them.
What Does Compassion Look, Sound, and Feel Like?
Compassion looks like silence. Sometimes no words are more powerful than a thousand spoken ones.
Compassion sounds like presence. A quiet room, a steady breath, a soft “I’m here.”
Compassion feels like validation. In your silence and presence, your being says: “I see you. I hear you. I feel you. I validate you. I support you. I understand you.”
Your compassion invites them to fully experience whatever is arising — tears, laughter, anger, or stillness — and reminds them they are safe and loved.
Powerful Ways to Offer Compassion
“What can I do to support you during this time?”
“Hey, do you want to talk about it?”
“I hear you. I see you. I feel you.”
“We don’t have to talk about it. I can just sit with you.”
Compassion is a heart-centred act. And just like exercise strengthens the physical heart, practising compassion strengthens our emotional heart. Offer support to a loved one — or a stranger — today.
The Support Kit
I have also previously shared tools and techniques in difficult moments. It’s called The Support Kit.
The Support Kit - Sometimes we need a little extra help during tough times — especially in those "Tower Card" moments when it feels like everything is falling apart. That’s where The Support Kit comes in.
A Support Blanket
This can be a physical blanket, the arms of a loved one, or a vulnerable conversation — anything that feels like a warm embrace for your soul, spirit, and self.
Bubble Wrap
Set boundaries with yourself, spirit, and others. Adjust your expectations gently. Protect your energy.
Communication
Share where you’re at and what you need with the people around you.
Personalised Tool Kit
Fill it with your favourite tools: affirmations, journaling, crying, healthy rage fits, tantrums — whatever practices help you process and heal.
Love
Plug yourself back into love. Remind yourself: It will be okay. It has to get bad before it gets good.
Compassion doesn’t heal the whole world at once — but it starts the healing of one soul at a time. And sometimes, that one soul is your own.
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