“We can’t begin being empathetic when another person arrives. We have to already have made a space in our lives where empathy can thrive. And that means being open—truly open—to feeling emotions we may not want to feel. It means allowing another’s experiences to gut us. It means ceding control.
Empathy begins with vulnerability. And being vulnerable, especially in our work, is fucking terrifying.”
The Pastry Box Project entry on March 18, 2013 by Sara Wachter-Boettcher
This quote was sitting in my drafts for months. Since then I’ve caught a few Hannibal episodes on TV (read: the PG-13 version), realized Will Graham is a nice fit for the subject, and found this lovely fanart by Mo.