Compassion
Family: Connection and care
How it differs from similar states
I want to help someone else; I feel both warmth and gentle sadness.
How this can feel in the body
Warmth mixed with gentle sadness—your heart opens to another person's suffering.
It usually comes up when
Another person's suffering touches you and awakens the desire to help.
What this might be pointing to
Motivates helping behaviour; strengthens the social fabric through another's suffering.
What you can do with this
Compassion is strength, not weakness. But be mindful of the boundary between compassion and merging with someone else's pain. You can be present without carrying their burden.
Where the name comes from
Compassion is a social emotion—it arises from witnessing the suffering of another person.
Not quite it?
Closest by feel — the same ones the compass would show.
Two minutes, and you will see whether this is really it