We are approaching holiday time, celebrated in many forms, cultures, and far flung countries. The message is typically about peace, good will, generosity, gratitude, giving.  At this same time inequality at home and abroad is breathtaking, and there is rising violence and unrest in numerous locations.

How do we relate to this discrepancy?  How can we hold both realities?  What is an appropriate response?  Try this ‘Radical experiment in empathy’ suggested by a powerful speaker in a TEDx talk by that name.  Follow along and put yourself in someone else’s shoes, it doesn’t really matter whose, just someone really different from you.  An

d feel the effect.  Let it sink in.  It changes our brain, our heart, and can alsochange our actions.

I found this heart-reading, therapeutic, and transformative, that the reflections put the holiday preparations in a new and challenging perspective.

I hope you do too. 

Jill Schroder is the author of BECOMING: Journeying Toward Authenticity.  BECOMING is an invitation for self-reflection, and to mine our memorable moments for insights, meaning, andgrowth.  Check the website for a sample chapter, or see the reviews to get a flavor for the volume.  Follow me on Twitter, let’s be friends on Facebook