“Nothing is more important than empathy for another human being’s suffering. Nothing—not career, not wealth, not intelligence, certainly not status. We have to feel for one another if we’re going to survive with dignity.”
Aubrey Hepburn
“I am the face of empathy,” she stated. Her eyes were steady, face sure.
She, a Macomb Township native, relator, environmental enthusiast, daughter and sister, is one of my childhood friends. Her name: Veronica Kanalos.
Merriam Webster defines empathy as, “The action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another.”
Empathy requires action. It’s the ability to connect with an individual on a deeper, more personal level. Employing this has become Veronica’s superpower. “Being able to step into someone else’s shoes and let them know everything will be alright, really helps people,” Kanalos explained.
She uses this superpower to assist those around her. Recently, she swung into action as a close friend of hers, considered suicide. “I get what you’re going through and you’re not alone,” she remembers saying. She hoped to change her friend’s outlook by letting them know she’s with them. That she felt their pain, understood. She listened, and her friend is alive today because of it.
“I take it one person at a time,” Kanalos stated, “Help them see the positive rather than the negative.”
Kanalos strives to maintain a glass-half-full mentality and constantly searches for healthy ways of coping with the stress life can bring. She believes just sitting and listening to someone can go a long way. “It’s like being someone’s personal hand to hold,” she said.
At times, it can be difficult to identify the challenges someone faces. Therefore, it is pertinent we take the time to ensure those around us that we care and work to have a better understanding of them as an individual. In doing so, you may just save someone’s life.
When asked if she would consider pursuing an empathy-related profession, Veronica Kanalos expressed how she frequently explores the possibility of becoming a counselor. “Maybe that’s my—well—purpose,” Kanalos laughed.
But for now, she is the face of EMPATHY.