Memoir & Empathy

 This is only my humble opinion but I do think, reading memoirs can teach us how to be more understanding and empathetic in some ways.

Reading the lives of others help me to think that THERE ARE a lot of people with a life that we couldn't relate to but might be possible for us to understand if we really try to. And it always makes me realise that, how there are so many hardships REALLY DO exist beyond our imagination. It’s easy to dismiss what people are going through and what they feel about certain things when you can’t relate to them. I think it’s true that empathy needs understanding and to understand, it requires effort which many of us simply refuse to chip in. Reading other people’s life really makes me think hard and reflect all over.

Reading memoirs help me to reflect on a lot of things in my life and how our hardship doesn’t have to make sense to others for it to be valid. We can seek for validation, sure, but any less validation from others doesn’t contribute in anything. But sure, it might influence how you perceive the issue right after and you will start to question yourself if it’s really okay for this and that, which is bound to happen, but what you really should do is, to take your time to process how certain issues make you feel, take your time to grieve and bounce back stronger. Sweeping things under the rug doesn’t settle them, it needs to be faced head-on.

 And whenever I met someone so inconsiderate, judgy in real life, how I wish I will never turn to be someone like them or simply I wish, I could shove a good memoir in their face, hopefully when they read it, that will help to expand their worldview and the fact that, the world doesn’t just revolve around them.  

If only we pause before we speak.

And I'm currently reading a memoir called Someone's Daughter