The word compassion is a derivative of “compati”, a Latin derivative of the words “com” meaning an ‘adjoining’ or ‘together’ and “pati” meaning ‘suffering’. A direct definition from this etymology would deem the literal definition of compassion as suffering together. Much of my thoughts about compassion were not actually on the day of compassion but on the night before, planning my activities for the actual day. The concept of ‘suffering together’ could mean understanding the perspective, emotions and troubles of another individual. I however deem that as the definition of empathy. After some thought, I settled on a definition that compassion is a desire to assist, this desire cam only be felt after relating to someone else’s situation and should then be accompanied by actions to assist whenever or wherever possible.
Determining the recipients of my compassion involved making a mental note to act upon any desire to improve the welfare of people I encounter immediately the though hits my head. This led to a majority of my acts impacting people I directly interacted with examples being a couple of friends, strangers on the street, the barista at a nearby coffee shop next to my residence and my neighbors. An interesting aspect of the day was that I prompted myself to reach out to check-up on distant family and friends, an action that I had been postponing for a quite some time.
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Multiple social psychology studies postulate that compassion motivates altruistic behavior. To some individuals, on the day my behavior seemed different while to some others I was same old me. A clear instance of this was a friend inquiring my newly found philanthropic nature in contrast to a waitress complaining that I usually tip her too much. This change in behavior felt different to me. I felt more in-tune with the on goings around me, primarily because I was on the lookout for someone ‘in need of assistance’. I also deduced that total strangers probably thought being altruistic was my usual self, cementing the social physiology theory that behavior can be a representative of personality.
The day of compassion imparted some psychological aspects on me. Helping others out, however small the task felt fulfilling subsequently acting as a motivator to do more. Some acts led to creation of new social connection as I got to know individuals around me. These acts however came at a small cost of time, money in some cases and energy. This prompted the thought of compassion fatigue when looking at the intricacies of psychology. It would obviously be impossible to comfortably replicate my deeds on compassion day, every day. That being said, the benefits surely outweighed the costs and I would encourage individuals to take up the day of compassion. This is mainly because actively being compassionate proved to be a learning experience and a prime opportunity for self-evaluation which led to lessons that will last with me for a long time.
