tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712142194083372761.post1609008713014869119..comments2012-05-18T08:50:56.179-05:00Comments on QP, Doll: Building Bridges: When words fail youSallie Caufieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00143548590648915538noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712142194083372761.post-47681144346319484852011-08-25T21:03:45.668-05:002011-08-25T21:03:45.668-05:00David, thank you so much for taking the time to po...David, thank you so much for taking the time to post such a thoughtful comment - it was such a lovely gift!<br /><br />A Twitter exchange with @TheAngryIndian inspired the post and laid bare the difficulty of expressing intent in 140 characters. The need for a Sarcasm font has been expressed; perhaps we need an Honest Question font as well.<br /><br />Progressives the world over are fighting to unite, struggling to overcome the things that separate us to build on common ground.<br /><br />Social media is a boon, of course, but as cultures, slang and experiences collide, we will stumble in our communications, as we always have.<br /><br />For those who do, I wrote this. Discovering bridges built by other hands (and thank you for that image!), or building our own, the crossing is much easier if we are met partway. If we connect through our humanity, reach out because of our humanity, and have the childlike faith that our intentions will be understood, accepted, and met, the ties we create will be stronger.Sallie Caufieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00143548590648915538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712142194083372761.post-57427932674065975002011-08-25T01:32:10.746-05:002011-08-25T01:32:10.746-05:00A beautiful, thoughtful, compassionate and empathe...A beautiful, thoughtful, compassionate and empathetic post. I am very glad I came to visit this particular river bank.<br /><br />When seeking to understand and possibly alleviate the pain of others, it seems - as you so clearly and eloquently write - that compassion and empathy can only take us part of the way, however much we may wish otherwise. <br /><br />"I have felt pain, so I will use that memory to relate to your response to pain." is a powerful tool indeed, and coupled with imagination takes us a few steps closer. <br /><br />Acknowledging our limitations in this regard maybe allows us to approach further still.<br /><br />Hopefully, from that point of partial bridge building, it may only take a slight effort of acceptance from the other person to complete the distance. <br /><br />Or a leap of faith. Sometimes there may be no other way accross the divide.<br /><br />Or best of all, the bridge, in some aspect of our common humanity, is already there in its entirety, long before we came along.<br /><br />Learning to see it, to trust it is there and to actually walk on it might be the next task on this sort of journey to understanding.<br /><br />Thank you, Sallie, for sharing your thoughts on this.<br /><br />It is my view that only someone with a unique gift of empathy and compassion could have written this.<br /><br />David Archer<br />Toronto, Canada<br />http://loontheory.wordpress.com/David Archerhttp://loontheory.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com