People usually believe that sympathy is a characteristic of pleasant, smiling and positive people. There are those who link the term “sympathy” to small rituals to accumulate good luck in life, get money, among other things. About “being nice”, this characteristic goes beyond what we know as nice people.
A sympathetic person is one who perceives other people's feelings at first., who understands what the person in front of him is feeling, and can also convey feelings to people in a superficial way, thus becoming a sympathetic person.
According to the website DĂşvidas DĂcio, the word sympathy has its origin in the Greek word sympátheia or in the Latin word sympathia and refers to a feeling of solidarity, of good disposition and commitment towards others, which causes a good impression and a favorable disposition, as well as appreciation and admiration. It can also mean the beginning of a love development, due to the fact that it is a feeling close to love. Popularly, it refers to a superstitious ritual, of magic and sorcery, to get something you want.
Empathy, on the other hand, is when, in addition to identifying people's feelings, it is seeking to understand their feelings on a deeper level. and furthermore, it is seeking to understand reality through people's eyes. In fact, putting yourself in their shoes and even looking for solutions to resolve bad feelings given the situations that she may be going through.
The word empathy has its origin in the Greek word empátheia, in English empathy and refers to an ability to identify with others, putting oneself in the other person's shoes, understanding their feelings and way of being. It also means the ability to understand a work of art or other object aesthetically and emotionally. Finally, in the context of interpersonal relationships, it refers to the ability to see yourself as others see you and to see others as they see themselves.
The poem below, written by the psychologist and psychodramatist Jacob Levy Moreno, elucidates more clearly what the feeling of empathy is then:
A meeting between two: eye to eye, face to face And when you're close, I'll gouge out your eyes And put them in the place of mine And you'll gouge out my eyes And put them in the place of yours Then I'll look at you with your eyes And you you will look with mine.”
We realize that, in the feeling we cultivate of empathy for the other, we come to know their difficulties, their reality in the face of life and their points of view about things and their world, through their eyes and their feelings. In sympathy, we manifest the feeling of reflected affection, without so much depth and contact.
It is extremely important to develop our feeling of empathy with people, since our society today lacks positive values ​​for harmonious coexistence. Looking through the eyes of the other, allowing yourself to feel what the other is feeling are noble actions for human beings. It requires internal reflection, reading and spiritualization. We certainly know people who have these characteristics. We can be people who radiate sympathy and who are empathetic to others. This does not mean being nice or doing everything that is asked, but having discernment about right and wrong and with empathy opening up to completely different worlds than ours and developing our lives even more.
Below is an excellent video on the difference between sympathy and empathy. It's worth watching:
Text written by Bruno da Silva Melo from the Eu Sem Fronteiras Team.
