Inviting Your Enemies – or Howard Stern – to Tea
What Happens When You Invite Your Enemies for Tea? Howard Stern entered an elevator and found himself face-to-face with a man that he’s been relentlessly berating on his well-known radio show. What could have been an awkward elevator ride turned into a lesson on compassion for us all. I love listening to the podcast, “Armchair…
2019 Highlights
As I reflect back on Compassion It’s eighth year, I can’t help but feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment and joy. Here’s why: 1 – We worked with refugees in Rwanda Thanks to a partnership with the nonprofit Alight, we supported compassion initiatives in a Rwandan refugee camp, and those efforts may impact millions of…
How to Disconnect to Connect
I don’t know about you, but every year the holiday shopping ads seem to appear earlier and earlier. I get emails about Black Friday, Giving Tuesday* and Cyber Monday, and they tell me, “Click here! Go to our website, and spend your money with us!”
Want to “Compassion It”? Opt to Act with REI
In 2015, retail and outdoor recreation services giant REI created a brilliant campaign to get people off of their phones and computers and into the world. While every other retailer asked you to spend money on Black Friday, REI told you to take a hike. Literally. REI closed all of its 150+ stores on Black…
Embracing the Month of YESvember
Ready to end the year on high note? Why not change NOvember into YESvember, and see what happens. Why say “yes”? Saying yes isn’t easy. When you’re comfortable where you are, why rock the boat? When I look back on my life so far, some of my most rewarding and enjoyable experiences have come from…
How We Unleashed Compassion at a Refugee Camp – Rwanda Part 3
My Compassion It teammate, Burrell Poe, and I joined the organization Alight for a week in Rwanda in order to unleash compassion within the healthcare system at refugee camps. This compassionate care initiative, Amandi, began with uncovering obstacles to compassion. After that, we creatively developed solutions to remove those obstacles. We spent the week at the Gihembe…
Welcoming Refugees with Empathy – Rwanda Part 2
What are skillful ways to manage the refugee crisis our world faces? As the number of displaced people rises each year, it’s a pressing question that needs thoughtful and compassionate answers. This past summer, I saw first-hand how Rwandans welcome refugees with empathy, compassion, and open arms. And I realized we could all learn a…
Noticing Compassion at a Refugee Camp – Rwanda Part 1
When I was invited by the nonprofit organization, Alight, to help figure out how to unleash compassion within refugee camps, I couldn’t say no. Our world is in the midst of a refugee crisis, and it’s not going away. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, the population of displaced people rose to an all-time high…
How to Curb Workplace Burnout with Self-Compassion
Deadlines, back-to-back meetings, overflowing inboxes – oh my! While they might not be lions, tigers, or bears, the anxiety you might feel from workplace demands can feel nearly as threatening. If you’re not sleeping well, feeling stressed out, disengaging from your work, or finding yourself utterly exhausted, you might be suffering from workplace burnout.…
2018 Compassion It Highlights
1 – Burrell & I led our first two-day training, and it was FANTASTIC…and FUN! In December 2018, we had the honor of designing and leading a 2-day training for nearly 50 staff members of the University of Chicago Medical Center. Participants included trauma surgeons, training & development managers, nurses, chaplains and others. We introduced…