EMPATHY by BethAnne Kapansky Wright

The Hidden Lights Anthology, released today with Golden Dragonfly Press, and edited by Carolyn Riker and BethAnne Kapansky Wright, is a collection of poetry, prose, and essays from novice to experienced authors that gives voice to truths not often told...

The words in this book plunge to the taproot of soul covering a diversity of topics across the human experience. Each chapter details the bittersweet of humanity and crosses over stereotypes of gender, racial decree, suicide, justice, depression, grief, and wrapping an inclusiveness in the cusp of being seen and heard. Fifty percent of the proceeds will be donated to the National Woman's Coalition Against Violence and Exploitation. 

The following piece, Empathy, by BethAnne Kapansky Wright, is a personal reflection on the experience of being an empath, along with a call for change in our country's relationship with empathy. It represents the heartbeat, foundation, and fundamental truth upon which this anthology was created:  All voices are needed. All voices matter. We are stronger in our diversity. We are all part of the whole. 

To obtain your own copy of Hidden Lights click here

Empathy

BethAnne Kapansky Wright

Empathy

is the ability

to feel what

another feels

and see perspectives

beyond just

me.

And I can’t help

but to try and see your way,

can’t help but to try

to seek how you see-

(though somewhere in the midst

of all that seeing,

I am left with the chaos

of too many voices,

have to take a deep breath

and re-clarify me.)

So much anger

and hate

and rage against the machine

-and I get it

my heart hurts,

my soul hurts,

I disagree.

I worry and fear and deeply care

about what will be.

But if we don’t try

to loosen all this rigidity,

then we will never

build a bridge,

build a hope,

build our light,

build our sight-

and find a means towards truth and unity.

I love how I love

and I see what I see

-and what I see

is that our country

could use a whole

lot more

empathy.

 

BethAnne Kapansky Wright: I am a Clinical Psychologist who enjoys writing, illustrating and creating. I specialize in dealing with women's issues, life transitions, trauma, grief work, and finding healing in our relationships, especially our relationship with our self. I am a big believer in authenticity, intuition, the power of love, finding laughter and joy, and learning to be more fully human. My essays and poetry have been published in a variety of publications, and I am the author of the poetry books Cranberry Dusk, Freebird Fridays (November 2016, Golden Dragonfly Press) and Lamentations of the Sea: 111 passages on grief, love, loss and letting go. I currently lives in Anchorage, Alaska with my soul mate and our fur kids and my beloved mountains and trails. I can be found on Facebook or on my blog: Sunshine in Winter, here. 

~If you are interested in seeing your poetry appear in this blog, or submitting a poem by a woman that has inspired you, please click here for submission guidelines. I greatly look forward to hearing from you!~