April 28, 2005 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Field Notes on the Compassionate Life: A Search for the Soul of Kindness
by Marc Ian Barasch
Compassion, writes Marc Ian Barasch, is the highest virtue in all religions, the “x-factor” that can dissolve even the most deep-seated enmity. But is it really possible to open one’s heart to everybody—even to complete strangers? And what impact can such selflessness have on an individual, and on the world that surrounds them?
To answer those questions, Mr. Barasch, a writer and a former editor at Psychology Today, sets out in search of acts of altruism. His journey leads him to give up his belongings for a week as part of a “street retreat” program to experience homelessness and develop empathy. In another chapter, he knocks on the doors of people who have donated their organs to others they have never met, and asks them what inspired that kind of sacrifice.
He visits a nonprofit organization in New Jersey, Building Bridges for Peace, that brings Israeli and Palestinian girls together for a few weeks to discuss their differences and, perhaps, to begin to care about one another. The author talks to children who have Williams syndrome, a genetic disorder that, among other things, makes them unusually empathetic. He interviews researchers at the Institute of HeartMath, in California, who say that when the brain is involved in caring activities, the rest of the body receives positive health effects.
Drawing on these different sources, Mr. Barasch finds that shedding self-centeredness is a prescription for a happier attitude, a healthier body, improved relationships, and even a better planet. And one way to cultivate kindness, he says, is through volunteering. “Compassion,” Mr. Barasch writes, “is one job that’s always hiring, with nil chance of getting downsized.”
Publisher: Rodale, 733 Third Avenue, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10017-3204; (212) 697-2040; fax (212) 682-2237; http://www.rodale.com; 352 pages; $24.95; ISBN 1-57954-711-7.
