Today is Blogger's Unite International Day of Compassion........and I know a lot of people are going to be talking about Patch Adams, but well as in typical Kat fashion I'm doing it my way. Although I have utmost respect for Mr. Adams and his work, if I had to think off the top of my head of a person who exemplifies compassion it'd be Oliver Sack. Never heard of him? Well he's a British neurologist whom the main character Malcom Sayer (played by Robin Williams) in the film Awakenings. Basically Sack discovered the beneficial effects of a new drug called L-Dopa on catatonic patients who survived the 1917-1928 epidemic of encephalitis. By experimenting with the dosages Sack was able to wake these patients up so they could live again, if even for a brief period of time.
But it's the side story that is so compelling to me. You see Sack was a scientist at heart, and a bit of an introvert. Years of working in the lab with animals and cell cultures has stunted his compassionate side. But as the movie went on, you got to witness the development of one man's compassionate side. The slow melting of an under developed aspect of one's emotional defence. In essence a life changing moment, a compassionate heart in the making.
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As the "International Day of Feel as I'm Told" has come and gone (can you tell I don't give a shit about manufactured sentiment designed to make the world feel better about itself?), it really does make me feel better to know that someone once gave a shit in a tangible way... without going all Barney the Purple Dinosaur in our drawers.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kat.