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Returning to Compassion
22 Plays2 months ago
In this episode of Full Circle Conversations & Living Life with Purpose, ningowiiganikwe reflects on how our world has shifted from community and connection to competition and individualism. She explores what compassion truly means not as a performance, but as a way of being rooted in the 7 Grandfather Teachings: wisdom, love, respect, bravery, honesty, humility, and truth. Through personal memories and honest questions, she invites listeners to consider when we started leaving compassion out of our daily lives and how we can bring it back through kindness, listening, and collective care.
Compassion is not weakness; it’s the strength that binds humanity together. When we choose to listen instead of judge, to share instead of compete, we reconnect with the teachings of our ancestors and with one another. Returning to compassion isn’t about going backward; it’s about remembering who we truly are.
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Transcript
Introduction to Compassion
00:00:04
Speaker
Ani bojo everyone, welcome to Full Circle Conversations and Living Life with Purpose on Tea with D. I'm your host Ningga Wiganipui. Today I want to talk about something that lives deep in the heart, compassion.
Compassion in Media: Dumbo
00:00:22
Speaker
You know that scene in Dumbo when his mother is locked away for protecting him? As a child, I didn't need anyone to explain it. I just felt it.
00:00:35
Speaker
That ache in my heart. That quiet knowing that something was wrong.
00:00:43
Speaker
That's what compassion feels like before the world teaches us to silence it.
Societal Conditioning Against Sensitivity
00:00:48
Speaker
But as we grow older, we start hearing, don't be so sensitive.
00:00:54
Speaker
That's just life. People need to toughen up. And slowly, without realizing it, we start hardening our hearts.
00:01:08
Speaker
Have you ever been in a situation where someone showed you no compassion? Maybe you opened up about something painful. And instead of empathy, you heard, Well, that's not that bad.
00:01:23
Speaker
And then they start telling you about what happened to them. And suddenly, Your pain feels smaller. Your truth feels dismissed.
00:01:35
Speaker
That's not compassion. That's comparison. And comparison has no place in healing.
Community Practices and Technology
00:01:43
Speaker
Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is simply listen.
00:01:48
Speaker
If it's not, maybe silence or presence is the medicine that's needed most.
00:01:58
Speaker
When I was young, I remember how naturally people shared. If someone needed something like food, firewood, a ride, a warm coat, it was given without hesitation.
00:02:15
Speaker
We didn't think twice, we just did it. That was community. That was compassion in motion. Even now I still see glimpses of that spirit, especially online where people use social media to share information, raise funds, connect in real time and help someone in need.
00:02:36
Speaker
It's beautiful to see the old ways finding new life through technology.
Online Cruelty vs. Community Bonds
00:02:41
Speaker
But I've also lived the contrast. For 12 years I was in the city and now being back in a small town, I see that sense of collective care isn't as strong as it used to be.
00:02:57
Speaker
40 years ago we depended on each other. We knew our neighbors. We looked out for one another. Yes, there are still cultural folks, the harvesters, the hunters, the ones who made sure our elders are cared for and families have what they need.
00:03:15
Speaker
But look online now and what do we see? Racism, hatred, cruel comments, people quick to judge, slow to understand. When did we start leaving compassion out?
00:03:29
Speaker
When did kindness stop being part of the conversation?
00:03:35
Speaker
Maybe it's because somewhere along the way we stopped seeing one another as relatives.
Impact of Colonization on Compassion
00:03:42
Speaker
colonization just didn't take our land it disconnected us from each other it replaced community with competition care with survival and language with silence because our languages Anishinaabemone Cree Oji Cree they carry compassion they remind us that everything is connected they teach us to say we not me And then we began to judge.
00:04:14
Speaker
We hear, if they worked harder, they wouldn't be poor. But that's not truth. That's colonized thinking. Poverty isn't a personal failure, it's a systems failure.
00:04:30
Speaker
A failure of access, equity and empathy. It's rooted in colonization, in the stripping a away of self-determination, in underfunded education, in intergenerational trauma,
00:04:46
Speaker
When we judge someone's struggle, we close the door to understanding. We stop practicing compassion and start practicing separation.
Seven Grandfather Teachings
00:04:57
Speaker
The seven grandfather teachings remind us that compassion isn't just one virtue.
00:05:03
Speaker
It's the thread that ties all of them together. Wisdom, love, respect, bravery, honesty, humility, and truth. It's understanding that whole story and knowing that that compassion is what connects us all.
00:05:19
Speaker
Maybe compassion isn't something we lost. Maybe it's something we buried under pain, distraction, and disconnection. But we can come back to it.
00:05:32
Speaker
We can listen again. We can share again. and we can live in a relation again.
Rebuilding Compassionate Communities
00:05:38
Speaker
We can speak our languages again because they teach us love, balance and belonging.
00:05:47
Speaker
So today I want to leave you with this. When someone shares their pain, resist the urge to measure it. Just listen. Because sometimes compassion doesn't sound like advice.
00:06:03
Speaker
It sounds like silence, presence and care.
Compassion as Strength and Medicine
00:06:08
Speaker
To those who still feel deeply, who still cry for others, who still choose to love in a world that rewards indifference, Miigwech.
00:06:20
Speaker
You are the living teachings. Maybe growing up doesn't mean hardening. Maybe it means remembering what our ancestors always knew, that compassion is strength and kindness is medicine.
00:06:36
Speaker
Miigwech for joining me in the circle today. Let's return to compassion, not as a performance, but as a practice. Because we were never meant to compete.
00:06:48
Speaker
We were meant to care. Until next time, walk gently, love fiercely, and remember who you are. Ma Pi.