Storytelling is for the purpose of empathy and connection. Film is one form of storytelling and ought to evoke feelings of empathy, which is why Jared Callahan said without hesitation, "All film making is . . . for the purpose of building empathy.”
But empathy is not a mathematic equation; it has no formula or template. Empathy is the gift of holding space without judgement.
Empathy doesn’t just walk in someone else’s shoes all the while holding contempt, criticism, or dismissiveness. Empathy suspends prejudice and preliminary conclusions; it holds the door to surprise and revelation wide open. And in that space (that is so easy to fill with our assumptions), we can feel with others that are different than us.
Insofar as vocation is what our life is preparing us for, it too is storytelling. It tells our story, the story of those that helped get us here, and the daily story that continues to be written each morning we awake. Our unique work in the world is in part for the purpose of building empathy.
Law enforcement.
Ministry.
Agriculture.
Teaching.
Jurisprudence.
I can’t think of one line of work that doesn’t include at its core an element of empathy building.
We're all storytellers. So too should we be empathy builders.
(Thank you, Jared, for the inspiration.)
