This is my collection of writings for the three hundred and sixty five day writing challenge - where one has to write something daily, every day, for one whole year, based on the prompts provided - as part of an exercise to improve creative writing...
"Write about your feelings of empathy or compassion for another person."
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Pity, sympathy and empathy - three words that are often used as synonyms but are actually very different from each other, in meaning and in intent.
Pity is feeling sorry or sad over somebody's plight and has an undertone of being happy that you are not the one suffering. It is like standing on the dry shore and being sad over someone who is flailing in the cold water.
Sympathy is a slightly better state than pity, though it is also like standing on the dry shore, it would involve some about of shivering as you imagine what the sufferer is going through.
Empathy on the other hand, starts off with the other two emotions and then jumping into the cold water to share the distress and offer comfort.
So while pity and sympathy are mere reactions, empathy is sharing the other's perspective, leading to a deep understanding of what exactly one undergoes (the above about dry shore and cold water is figurative, if literal, pulling them ashore is what should be done, rather than shiver with them in the water.)
There have been psychological studies regarding the above emotions and it has been summarised very well in this graphic by Robert Shelton, a psychologist in a Californian high school:
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