On Caring

Amy Cunningham, who writes Chattering Mind blog, picked up Milton Mayeroff’s new book, On Caring.  I found  it synchronistic, especially since I had just put a poll up on what would make someone feel better, to buy a ‘toy’ for themselves or help someone.  Well, helping falls into the catergory of caring I would think.

Mayeroff’s opening words in On Caring:

In caring as helping the other grow, I experience what I care for (a person, an ideal, an idea) as an extension of myself and at the same time as something separate from me that I respect in its own right.

I found, as Amy did, the quote of the famous psychotherapist, Carl Rogers clear and relevant.  He wrote:

"..the degree to which I can create relationships which facilitate the growth of others as separate persons is a measure of the growth I have achieved in myself.."

Amen!  Yeah!!  I don’t write or speak those words lightly.  It’s no easy feat to accomplish such a goal as seeing intimate people, friends or close colleagues as separate from oneself.   I have been working on it for a lifetime.  I remember reading and esteeming Carl Rogers in grad school decades ago.

To read more of Amy’s take,  click here.

Technorati Tags: on caring, milton mayeroff, carl rogers, empathy, compassion