# 188 THE SAD PART OF EMPATHY

I hope MD (Middle Daughter) will forgive me for sharing this intimate story with you, but I feel I must.

‘Empathy’, if understood, is easy to clone. And it is as easy to wear a pretense of overt empathy as it was for the Emperor to strut and parade before his subjects in his new, invisible clothes. But there is nothing to admire in a generic façade. Real empathy, on the other hand, exists deep in the heart where it fashions moment-by-moment 3-D realities of the discouragement and sadness that others feel.

The other day MD called me after reading my blog about ‘Honeybee Whispers’. And although I thought it was story peppered with a fair bit of humor, she was still sniffling as she admitted that she wailed and wept after reading about the hopeless situation of two lonely, destitute, and homeless insects. I was surprised. Her reaction was so unexpected. Sill, I have to admit, I consider it a complement when I am able to write something that touches readers in an undeniable way. But, to me, the greater complement has little to do with my exposé, and much to do with MD. If the unfortunate circumstances of two insignificant insects touched her in such a staggering way then I know for a certainty that her sense of empathy is very real.

Still I regret that I inadvertently made her feel so sad.