How Writing Emphasizes My Empathy
Throughout this semester in WRIT 150, I have learned about the skills and the process of writing, although that is what I expected to be taught in a freshman writing class. I learned about being comfortable writing in my own voice from Vershawn Ashanti Young, and studied the importance of writing as it relates to the process of education from Freire. I have encountered fascinating, creative storytellers in J. Cole and Tig Notaro, and I have even picked up a lot of great ideas by reading the projects and Medium posts of my classmates. All of these new proficiencies and techniques are great and will be very useful for me, especially as I venture into a career that revolves around writing, but that’s not what I am truly proud of attaining throughout this semester.
Instead, I will look back more fondly on the ideological effects of writing on my identity. I am more satisfied with my self-discovery thanks to this class as opposed to my discovery of the methods of writing. I have learned a lot about myself; most of the writing that I have done this semester revolves around my desire to go into a career in sports journalism. So, I have been able to dig deep and discover why I connect so well with sports and other topics that interest me through the writing I have completed. I have even expressed my frustrations with writing and unhelpful forms of education in a couple of blog posts. Most of all, though, writing has helped me learn about the empathetic side of my identity, because of how writing compels me to think about my relationships with other people and ideas.
I first realized how empathy connects to writing in my Medium post about Tig Notaro, as I compared her unique comedy album to one of my favorite comedians, Bo Burnham. As I wrote the post, I noticed that I felt more of a connection with these public figures with whom I have no direct relationship. I was forced to think intently about the underlying messages of Burnham’s silly songs and the psychological impact of Notaro’s deadpanned monologues. As a result, I had to think about the role of comedy in my life; while my empathy bums me out, as Burnham says, laughter provides some alleviation to sad emotions. Empathy doesn’t make me feel good, but it’s an important aspect of building relationships with others, and I want to be more conscious of those feelings as I meet and develop connections with new people in this advanced stage in my life.
While I was writing WP3, I again found that writing pushes me to be more empathetic. As I continue to recognize my privilege as a straight, white man, I have discerned the need for me to challenge myself to acknowledge and understand the differing perspectives of my peers. I am incredibly lucky that systemic issues such as racism, sexism, and poverty don’t directly affect my livelihood, but that doesn’t mean I should ignore them. As I read and discussed Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, I learned how much my education affects my perspective on those examples of oppression. I must see the world from a more subjective point of view that allows me to stand in solidarity with those who aren’t as fortunate as I am, because I feel empathy for them.
This empathy results from the work I have done in this class of analyzing my own emotions, thoughts, and desires. After all, I can only truly understand and share the feelings of others when I clearly grasp and explain how I feel myself. Even though I didn’t really comprehend it at the time, the writing exercises we did in class were centered around self-reflection and perceiving feelings that I was not very aware of. After rereading some of those short, five-minute essays, I observed that my brutal honesty revealed a desire to better myself. Sometimes, compassion and kindness just is not that easy, but I know that I aspire to hold those qualities all the time thanks to my empathetic nature.
Finally, my experiences with writing in this class have taught me that writing is pretty difficult. Expressing my emotions is not easy, and neither is trying to communicate complex ideas. I have discussed this idea in a lot of the writing I have done this year, as I have discovered that my prior education has affected my ability to write about abstract, personal ideas. It has been weirdly comforting to see my classmates express their similar dissatisfactions as well; I enjoyed reading one of Anthony Petrossian’s Medium posts about his disdain for the education system here in the United States, because I shared the same views as him regarding the challenges of writing. I actively noticed my genuine empathy for Anthony while I wrote my own post responding to his thoughts, as it was evident that we were struggling together with our writing, and that, ironically, writing was what helped us come to this realization. Likewise, I have developed a new appreciation and respect for the sports journalists that I admire, because I now know that they likely share the same difficulties as I do. While this new understanding makes my desired career slightly off-putting, I also want to work harder as a result in order to be successful in this industry.
Looking back at the writing I have done this semester, I have learned that writing makes me want to improve myself, by being more compassionate and hardworking. As I have worked to comprehend my intellectual identity, I have been honest and critical of myself, yet I am content with the person I am. My empathy may not make me feel good all of the time, but I am more motivated to develop as a person because of those feelings of despair and frustration. Writing brings out these emotions because I am forced to analyze and think deeply about myself, and how I relate to everything around me. No matter what kind of writing I am doing, I can see the connections between people and things more easily when they are on paper or a screen; there’s only so much I can comprehend in my head. Empathy serves as the best example of this concept, and I hope to write about it in the future so that side of my identity remains prevalent.
