Afterword

This paper was going to be an in-depth dive of literature, but I felt like that detracted from the rawness that comes with emotion. Rather than approaching this “thought-first” (as I discussed in the paper), I decided to let my emotions speak for me.

You may do your own research on the types of empathy I presented: Cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, compassionate empathy, somatic empathy, as well as reading about the differences regarding sympathy. I feel this paper benefited from this new approach, and thanks to everyone who supported me as I was still milling about, thinking on how I want to convey this emotion through my writing.

This topic is unlike many of the topics I’ve written about thus far. It’s something that I have been learning about, slowly and not without missteps. For all of those I’ve interacted with along the way, you truly mean the world to me. My constant reminders to myself that I can give and receive freely, it’s what keeps me so tightly in a wonderful, supporting community.