I don’t believe that I’m unique in that I need daily reminders to divorce from my mercenary, survival self and live within my connected, human self. It’s no accident that empathy has become the business buzzword in recent years. It may not have translated well into regular corporate practice, but it’s still positive that there is a consciousness that we must bring the best qualities of our personal lives into our professional lives. We can’t expect to get good at something unless we do it all the time. We can’t live with the disconnect and live one way at home, and another when we leave the house. Most of us don’t need to live within our base survival instincts. We can afford to marry the best parts of the different aspects of our lives, despite that it often feels like a matter of life and death. We have ascribed life and death circumstances with all the inherent desperation to things where it simply doesn’t apply.

I spent so much time on the edge of not getting by that I have lost some of my capacity for empathy in both my personal and professional lives. It’s come to me that it’s not even sound living to consider the personal and professional as different realms. There is only one life. Just one, and I am falling short on empathy. I’m forcing expectations on others to stand entirely on their own; at the same time I’m forcing the same on myself. It’s not working.

So I will bookmark this as a safe spot to regroup and get priorities in order.