Delivered as part of our Tranquil Tuesdays by Laura Brodie.
Shared Human Experience & Kindness
In her opening Reflections Laura considered, “All beings want to be safe, happy, and at ease.” This simple truth reminds us that beneath our differences, we share something deeply human.
In this session, Eye Matter explored the idea of shared human experience — the understanding that all of us, in different ways, experience difficulty, uncertainty, and the desire to feel safe and connected.
Reflecting on how the mind often creates a sense of separation:
- feeling alone in our struggles,
- believing that something is wrong with us,
- or assuming that others have it easier.
Through mindfulness, we began to gently question this pattern. Eye Matter explored how bringing awareness to our experience without judgment allows us to soften the feeling of isolation and recognise a deeper truth: We are not alone in what we feel. Introducing the character strength of kindness, not only as something we offer to others, but as something we can begin to offer to ourselves.
Kindness, in this context, means:
- responding with care rather than criticism
- meeting difficulty with understanding
- allowing ourselves to be human
Through the loving-kindness meditation, we practised extending this attitude to ourselves, to people we care about, to neutral people and even, gently, to those we find difficult. We explored how recognising that “just like me, this person has struggles” can shift our perspective and create a sense of connection rather than separation.
