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Cherie Lee's avatar

Victoria, thank you for all of these resources and things to think about, as always! I'm still working my way through all of my emails and looking forward to reading all of yours that I've missed!

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Lily Pond's avatar

Hi Victoria, I read this with great interest, and will save it to puruse the linked videos later. The subject of bridging the gap in communication and thereby increasing understanding and empathy is a very important one in all kinds of human intereactions. And in the case of caregiving, it's high stake. One issue I want to point out is that when we are stretched to the limit with stress, our default wiring of the brain comes to the forefront, and when that happens, it is very very hard for the prefrontal cordex/CEO of the brain, to make decisions at the moment. It takes a lot of practice -- in peace times -- to learn how to over ride the amygdala's actions and defer to the prefrontal cordex. Which is why practicing mindfulness, stillness and processing skills in the space between stimulus and response is so important, For two years, i actively practiced the skills of "Real Dialogue," taught by psychotherapist and long-time zen Buddhist practitioner Polly Young-Eisendrath. It has taught me to take into account others' perspectives whenever I engage with them and try to bridge the gap of understanding.

I've written about this and my own take in this earlier essay. It's behind the pay wall now, but let me share the secret link so you can read it if you want:

https://lilypond.substack.com/p/5973ede8-e520-4d5a-9994-680095d7d504

Cheers!

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