KLIPSUN
KLIPSUN
Western Washington University’s Klipsun Magazine
Empathy (Spring 2021)
I lost empathy when I was young and have since spent my time searching for it.
Empathy is a capacity that is messy and unnatural; it is a pain in the ass for us selfish folks.
My search for it began in high school. Later, in a college literature class, I rediscovered my infatuation for empathy when I read Leslie Jamison’s “The Empathy Exams.”
“This was the double blade of how I felt about anything that hurt: I wanted someone else to feel it with me, and also I wanted it entirely for myself.”
Considering you and I have hurt, that we do hurt and that we will hurt in our lifetimes begs the question: do we hurt less when others hurt with us?
I chose this theme hoping to answer this. I’m not sure if we did. Isolated in my room, I met my staff through a laptop screen and encouraged them to be empathetic journalists who ask empathetic questions and seek out empathetic stories about empathetic characters. And, of course, the lack thereof.
We challenged whether or not this capacity is inherently human. We considered if everyone deserves it, how we can earn it and how we claim it for ourselves. We clarified the difference between it and its deceptive neighbor, sympathy.
Besides interviewing people pre-pandemic style, reading this quarter’s stories is the closest I have come to finding empathy again. Hurting with my writers, with my editors and with the characters you will discover gave me a glimpse at something I lost a long, long time ago.
Read with someone else. Then read it again — entirely for yourself.
Best,
Jaya Flanary
editor-in-chief (Spring 2021)
Hi neighbor,
WWU 2021 Scholar’s Week
For Klipsun Magazine’s Spring edition, I chose the theme of empathy. I wanted to explore what empathy means, how we obtain it, if we all deserve it, and how we go about having it for ourselves. Amid the pandemic and social unrest, I believe that while empathy is the key to success, it is a capacity that is difficult to maintain. Empathy tests each and every one of us — as friends, family, citizens, and human beings. My writers sought out stories through an empathetic lens, which allowed them to build trust with their sources. The final product is a beautiful print magazine (the first printed edition since the pandemic) and a record-breaking 31 stories published online, including supplemental multimedia elements such as timelines, podcasts, and photo essays. Among the pages, you will find personal essays about Black-love, sexuality, familial memories, and sexual assault. You will read about creatives, puppies, vaccines, fatphobia, and the service industry. You might cry, laugh, and get angry. You will flip the final page feeling empathetic toward yourself and others. Like myself, you will understand empathy in a whole new way.
(This video was created for Scholars Week 2021, a virtual event held May 17 through May 21, which features outstanding research and creative works by Western students.)