Finding Comfort in Discomfort

Empathy Power Up

At the beginning of 2023 your Empathy Power Up co-host Amy Wilson flew across the country to attend a somatic healing retreat to help her reconnect with her body. But what she experienced was the opposite of what she expected, and it ended with a pretty big rupture in the community that she’s still processing.

Listen more to learn about what happened at the retreat, and how it illuminated two characteristics of our culture: the “right to comfort” and the “fear of conflict.” Co-hosts Kevin Shah and Amy break down these two topics that lead us to value logic over emotion, and avoid any type of conflict for fear that it will make us uncomfortable. They also discuss how we can overcome these well worn pathways once we’re responding with our automated responses.

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Note: these two characteristics are based on Westernized ideas of white supremacy and colonialism that are pervasive in our culture, and outlined in Tema Okun’s Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture.

Amy J. Wilson lives to design a world where every person gets what they need, the power to achieve what they want, and the agency to do what they love. For nearly 20 years Amy has put empathy into action: she has built cultures that hold change so that organizations and the people within it can thrive. She has challenged the status quo and redesigned systems centered on compassion and equity at more than a dozen organizations and can both set and implement the vision. She is the bestselling author of Empathy for Change: How to Build a More Understanding World: https://www.amazon.com/Empathy-Change-Create-Understanding-World, a guide to create positive transformation where we work, live, and play. Grab a copy anywhere books are sold or the audiobook on Audible.

Kevin A.K.A Captain Empathy is the Founder and CEO of Jaago (means to wake-up in Hindi). Jaago’s vision is to create a world where people seek to understand one another by making empathy a daily habit. He is a tech leader and IOT (Internet of Things) pioneer and expert. He brings practical experience, lived experience, and his transparent growth journey to the podcast.

Follow:

• Kevin at @shahkevin or https://linktr.ee/shahkevin
• Amy at @realamyjwilson or www.AmyJWilson.com

Cover Art Design: Amy J. Wilson with Canva