Dear Compassion

On January 23rd, 22 people sat in a board room at Mount Sinai Hospital. They were social workers, nurses, researchers, occupational therapists, psychotherapists, ethicists, medical students, and administrators. I'm sure there were other vocations and other callings. The workshop was called: Postcards from Edge: Addressing Compassion Fatigue in Note Form. They wrote about their experiences responding to the suffering of the people they serve as well as the suffering of those they love. They wrote about their own. I felt lucky to be there. To be able to listen. Though Rule number 5 in all my workshops is 'you don't have to share,' many did. One man said 'I have a great appreciation for tenderness.' There was a lot of that in the room. Barely an hour after the workshop ended, this blog appeared written by Louise Kinross of Holland Bloorview. I borrow the title of her piece for this blog posting. Dear Compassion.