Empathy trumps fear as winter approaches

However, as fear stagnates certain caves of our thought, it fuels others, burning collateral holes in our perspective through which we pigeonhole our vision and lunge for sustaining warmth. In this sense, fear is the stove top upon which hate cooks and love explodes into unrecognizable bits, like a closed metal can. At this point, we must remember that it is our choice to ignite the burners. We elect to fear.

If the dish that fear offers is so severe, the decision to fear must have certain payoffs that supply it with rationale. Today, we use fear to narrow our misunderstanding. When things go south, we look up to a seemingly endless sky and hopelessly scour its infinitum for explanations. Such a search brings great distress and we panic before our limited capacities. To limit such panic, we create clouds of fear to cover up some of the sky’s expanse and to seemingly bring our ceiling closer toward us. We shrink our focus and, thus, enlarge ourselves. Fear provides explanations that comfort rather than confound.

Though an understandable temptation, these clouds partition our sky. Once a smooth and comprehensive symbol of connectedness, the sky begins to peer out differently for all; some sky is never seen. Similarly, as fear overcomes man, empathy fades. We lose our ability to see and connect with one another, to embody the emotions of our peers and find strength through solidarity. We cling to what we can readily see and shiver at the notion of lifting a finger; we commit to what seems sturdiest. Worst of all, we forget how beautifully that blue canvas boomed overhead when the sun was shining and times were peaceful.

I do not wish to plug a political opinion, but to briefly enliven the concept with an example: that of the plight of the Syrian refugees. In the wake of recent extremist attacks, the West logically wishes to tighten its belt. We lock down in fear; we see our own perspective most clearly and lose the refugees’ behind the clouds. However, people are dying behind those clouds. Each day, people who did not choose war attempt to escape it, to scurry away from bombs that fall like rain and oppression that chills their humanity like winter winds. They face no perfect option but nonetheless strive for the most basic: survival.

Regardless of what socioeconomic or international repercussions their pursuit of survival may warrant, such an essential perspective must not be blotted out by fear. Decisions made without clarity of mind and thoroughness of consideration are unfair decisions, even if the same decision would be made under perfectly blue skies. All such dysfunction starts with our acceptance of fear. We must resist terror and trepidation; we must not tear at the sight of the sun.

By overcoming fear, we replace its comfort with that of empathy. Instead of seeking understanding of the world by shrinking it, we share the load. We mold our perspective to that of others and thus cover far more sky than we could by independently trying to fit our round pegs into everyone else’s square holes. Less clashing results, and less people are left out. In the end, we all look at the same sky. Instead of staying in the frame, we are free to see the big picture.

If our empathetic sun can successfully peel back the clouds and once again define our natural unity, we can rightfully embrace our December. As Franklin D. Roosevelt famously said, the only thing we have to fear would fall by virtue of circularity, and evil would lose not only its purpose but also its source.

If humanity could grow accustomed to valuing its actions through the lenses of others, by tapping into their deepest reactionary emotions and ideals, the misunderstood benefit of doing evil would cease and thus no longer divert the human mind away from the goodness we can achieve as one. Even more critically to our current situation, one evil would no longer fuel the next. The fearful stove top would not burn long enough to destroy love. Instead, love would roast like chestnuts on an open fire and warmth would steam through our pores.

As you did as a kid, expel all fear this holiday season. Do not succumb to the power it can have over an individual person. Instead, will faith in your fellow men and women. Huddle for warmth and cherish the truth that we are not intended to live alone. Let your breath loose into the night air and leave your fingerprint not to stand alone, but to combine with the signatures of others to craft a seamless mosaic of mankind gliding according to design. When fear is absolved entirely, the finished product should resemble the stars overhead.