(Photograph taken by me in Hiroshima, 2007; words from Dacher Keltner's The Power Paradox)

Dear all,

It's been a busy month! Mimi Chan of CultureChat podcast had me on for another show, this time focusing on Asian American identity, mental health, compassion, and gun culture, near the time of the anniversary of Parkland.

Also - here are three Psychology Today blogposts since 2019: Year of the Pig, Year of Compassion!

Northam and the Mentalization and Empathic Deficits of Power : Drawing on the work of Dacher Keltner at UC Berkeley, and trying to unerstand how power and privilege lead to deficits in understanding the experiences of others, particularly vulnerable groups.

A Psychological State of Our Union: We Are All Migrants : This long-ish essay is drawn from my personal experience as an immigrant. That facet of identity has been particularly prominent given the state of the nation. First given as a talk at JSS Hospital in Mysore, India.

Loneliness: Social Media, the Internet, and Smartphones : We all carry a seed of loneliness....how do we inadvertently water this seed?

I am also just wrapping up my Mindful Self-Compassion workshop series, and will be starting an 8 week Compassion Cultivation Training series in March-April on Monday nights. Please share with your communities, and I'm happy to offer the "100off" discount to those who need it. Compassion is linked to resilience, well-being and improved mood. I'd really like to bring these skills to the community. As you may have noted, a lot of my writing is linked to the conflicts of compassion and power. We're due for a societal reset, which means we all need practice cultivating these important skills. Please join me.

Thanks for being a part of my community, and for doing all you do to bring a bit of peace to yourself and others. "Save the world - twenty minutes at a time - even if it's very badly! :)"

Warmly,

Ravi