How do you empathize with people who seem cruel or rude? How do you recognize that “monsters” are people, too? Our topic today is driven from some recent experiences of our own: How do you empathize with people who seem to be cruel or rude? In other words, how do you empathize with jerks, and what’s the value … Continue reading "Audacious Compassion 010 – The ‘Why People Do Bad Things’ Thing"

How do you avoid repeated arguments with a person even when there’s nothing to argue about? Sometimes you realize far too late that you actually agree and that you’re just miscommunicating. Our prompt comes from Thom Root (@invisime) on Twitter: Thom: A coworker and I can’t stop violently agreeing with each other. AC: Is this … Continue reading "Audacious Compassion 009 – That Dudebro Shoulder-Bumping Thing"

We supply our own problem: how to be compassionate toward people who change or learn slower than you think they should? Is it anyone’s problem but your own? What should we do with the problems we’re having with our own family? If you have a question about how to show compassion in difficult, everyday situations, … Continue reading "Audacious Compassion 008 – Peeved Partner in the Piedmont"

How does compassion look when you’re powerless to fix a situation? How do you avoid just repeating, “That’s rough. I’m sorry this is happening”? If you have a question about how to show compassion in difficult, everyday situations, please write to [email protected]. You can also follow or contact us on Twitter! This episode is driven … Continue reading "Audacious Compassion 007 – I’m Sorry This Is Happening"

What does compassion look like in a frustrating team setting? What does “compassion” even mean and how do you want to practice it? How do you deal with frustration and people who bother you? If you have a question about how to show compassion in difficult, everyday situations, please write to [email protected]. You can also … Continue reading "Audacious Compassion 006 – Working With the Fonz"

How can you help people when their problems seem like part of an enormous, intractable system? It’s been a tough month for a lot of people and sometimes problems seem beyond us. However, we can each make a difference as long as we learn how to genuinely help and make sure to look after ourselves. … Continue reading "Audacious Compassion 005 – A Pretty Talented Panda Bear"

We talk about coercive discussion, where someone seems to be trying to provoke you into talking about a topic that will likely lead to an argument. Our prompt today: I’m at the water cooler and my coworker wants to talk about how wonderful Trump is. I’m a minority and voting for Hillary. How do I … Continue reading "Audacious Compassion 004 – Bone Brigade"

In this episode, we talk about situations where it’s hard to discern someone’s request for change and to give it a direct yes or no answer. Here’s an excerpt of the email we received: He has complained about this a few times, so I finally (having learned about Non-Violent Communication!) asked him if he were making a request for me … Continue reading "Audacious Compassion 003 – Baby FaceTime"

How do you handle when people ask you for help and it’s not clear what they want? What about when you’ve tried to help them before and it hasn’t worked? A friend of the show is troubled by “people (usually students) who ask for help, don’t change their behavior, ask for help, etc. Repeat ad … Continue reading "Audacious Compassion 002 – Don’t Mention Fish"

This is the first episode of Audacious Compassion, a podcast where we talk about how to practice empathy in difficult, everyday situations. In this episode we discuss minor domestic annoyances. We’ve got two different examples. One is a partner leaving cups places other than near the dishwasher in the kitchen. The other is, when you … Continue reading "Audacious Compassion 001 – Go Buy a Caddy"