We are thrilled that already hundreds of people have joined our Compassion Connectors initiative – coming together as a global coalition to spread and embed compassion.
But what exactly is a Compassion Connector?
In its simplest terms, it is a pledge. A pledge to seek out ways to bring compassionate thinking, practices, cultures, ideas, and behaviors to whichever areas of your life you choose. That could be work, home, and your community or it could be national life, politics, business, education, or healthcare. Or it could be all of these. The scope Connectors choose to work in is entirely personal but the ambition is shared – to live a life of compassion and to help others do the same.
Of course, in many ways, every member of the Coalition is on the same path so what makes a Connector different?
Well along with the pledge comes the practice. Compassion Connectors are working together. They come together to discuss, share, and support. They seek out new opportunities to learn about compassion and to try out ways of habituating it in their lives. They might be forming local groups of like-minded individuals or joining with others from across the world who, for example, want more compassion in business. And most fundamentally of all they are seeking out ways to bring the alleviating power of compassion to those (including themselves) who are experiencing pain and suffering.
There is no fixed blueprint for being a Connector. The motivations and the ultimate goals are the same but the method – that is something we are supporting everyone to create, realize, and implement. And that is why it is so exciting. We can’t expect to enforce the same program across the world – different cultures, individuals, and contexts will all react differently. And neither would that be much fun for Connectors – to simply act out a pre-determined program. Instead, this is very much a program built with those involved.
And it could not be more prescient. The Connectors program – we believe – speaks to the major problems in our world today. When societies divide (because of politics, economic inequality, or just due to rapid change), we all become weaker. It makes it harder to find collective solutions to existential problems. It means individuals who are experiencing suffering get left behind. It makes it easier for forces who don’t have our best interests at heart – populist leaders who divide and conquer – to take the reins of power. Humanity has only ever grown stronger when it has worked together. This has to be our future and it is the goal of Connectors to make it so.