Find your humility

Full disclosure: I love me my radio stories. I'm finding this show - a mother's tale of bringing up her transgender child - so engrossing. The mum is so articulate and upfront about what she knows, and what she doesn't know. She blows me away with her acts of love, and frank admission of fear and confusion. So so human. As a researcher, I always  talk (and think) about having empathy. But I also think it's vital to exercise humility. To me, humility is almost 1 step above empathy in the hierarchy of human capabilities; It's not just about feeling what others are feeling, putting yourself in their lives (EMPATHY). HUMILITY is about truly stepping away from your own life and biases, and allowing yourself to be awed, moved, and changed by someone else's life. On a very basic level (work/fieldwork), it makes your ultimate product more resonant. But on the bigger playing field (the field of life - the biggie), it makes the entire experience more satisfying and personally evolving. Listen to it.