Cultivating Compassion

“Sometimes, while riding the subway I try to look at each
person and imagine what they look like to someone who is in love with
them. I think everyone has had someone look at them that way, whether it
is a lover, or a parent, or a friend, whether they know it or not. It’s
a wonderful thing, to look at someone to whom I would never be
attracted and think about what looking at him or her would feel like to
someone who is devouring every part of his or her image, who has
invisible strings that connect to every part of his or her body. I think
this is a fun way of cultivating compassion. It feels good to think
about people that way and to use a part of my mind that is traditionally
reserved for a tiny portion of people I’ll meet in my life to
appreciate the general public. I wish I could think about people like
this more often. I think it’s the opposite of what our culture teaches
us to do. “

—Dean Spade, from ‘For Lovers and Fighters