“Through compassion, through love, we can solve many problems, we can have true happiness, real disarmament.”–Dalai Lama
I wish I were a superhero who could step into the body and mind of others and force others to step into someone else’s body and mind.
I could have gotten my power after being bitten by a radioactive Tibetan Lama.
You could call me Empathico.
I would use my power for world peace, marital bliss, and blogging fame.
First, I would start with the man in the mirror–well, not literally, because that would put me in a mise-en-abyme of empathy that would make Inception look like Sesame Street. Whenever I felt like I was right in a marital argument, which is always, I would step into the body and mind of my wife. I would also step into my sons’ bodies and minds before I ever disciplined them.
After fixing things at home, I would get on the internet. Imagine that, a superhero sitting in front of a computer reading blogs. I would slip into the minds of my favorite bloggers and figure out how they can be so witty, creative, prolific, and generous everyday without fail. Watch out Mirth and Motivation, Writing Ruth, Cristian Mihai, Dianne Gray, Dieuinthegrass, and Bodhisattvaintraining, I’ve got you in my sights–or should I say “sites.” With a million followers I would set my sights on world peace.
Since I would have gotten my powers from a radioactive Lama, I would force Chinese government officials to step into the body and mind of the Dalai Lama. After reading the autobiography of Nelson Mandela who was imprisoned for 27 years due to apartheid, I realized that thousands of Tibetans have been in prison since 1959. That is 57 years of imprisonment and exile. The Dalai Lama has said that he is grateful for the Chinese in helping him reach a new level of compassion, but enough is enough, Free Tibet.
Then, just for kicks, I would force Barack Obama and Mitt Romney to switch places and watch all their campaign ads. Better yet, I would have a fourth debate.
I’m not sure how long my powers would last, so I would focus all my energy on one huge transformation. I would force all the men in the world, including myself, to live inside the body and mind of a woman for a month. Why a month? You’ll understand when the transformation is complete. That should do it–world peace.
Ok, so maybe it would take longer than one month to achieve world peace, but at least people would realize the power of empathy. And maybe little boys would stop wishing for bigger guns, blades like Wolverine, and sexual resumes like Charlie Sheen.
Who would you trade places with? Why? Who would you force to step into the shoes of another? Why?
This post inspired by a prompt from Daily Post: Weekly Writing Challenge: I Wish I Were.
Thank you for reading, sharing, and/or smiling.
Related articles
- 7 Tibetans self immolate in one week (thehimalayantimes.com)
- The 57th Tibetan set himself on fire to fight for a free tibet that is less and less likely (rvampie.com)
- VIDEO: Dalai Lama hopeful of Chinese change (bbc.co.uk)
everyday gurus 
very selfless aspirations 🙂 thanks for the mention, means a lot…
Thank you for the inspiration, Annie.
What a wonderful post! I wish this too sometimes. If I could take over someones mind and body it would probably be the lady who sits next to me at work – I’d robotically take her into the chemist and have her buy deodorant and then have her spray it on her underarms. Then I’d take over my boss and have him move me into my own office and give me a pay rise. I’d then get into the body of the Freshly Pressed people and get you up there on the front page with all the bells and whistles and flashing lights! I guess after that it would be world peace 😉
Thank you so much for the mention – I’m very flattered 😀
Dianne,
Now you know why I want to slip into your mind and body, Master Jedi Blogger. You are hilarious. What the hell are you working for someone else for? I’m reading the Eleventh Question, and it is brilliant–I might have to put it on the back burner during NaMoWriMo.:( You have so many awards as a writer. You are freshly pressed. Tell me you are close to being able to support yourself as a self-published author. Or are you working 3 jobs–author, blogger, 9-5–so you can buy a Tesla?
Strange you should mention work – today is my last day. I’m ‘giving up my day job’ to write full time! 😉 I think this will probably be the theme for my blog tomorrow 😀
Yay! You are my hero, Dianne.
I think I’d have to chose being in prison in a whole country rather than in a teeny tiny cell like Mandela (you may zap me at will with your imaginary superhero powers for my nit picking there) – hope you get your blogging fame wish and get FP’d for this post, you deserve it because you’ve already nailed ‘witty and creative’!
Thank you so much for your comment and follow, WWAA. I love your Weekly Challenge post as well. Great story. Congrats on all the achievements.
It is true that the Dalai Lama and 100,000 Tibetans were exiled out of their country in 1959, but there were also thousands of Tibetans put into prisons as bad, if not worse, than the prisons in South Africa.
Empathico…that’s great. 🙂
I would slip into the shoes of an elderly lady I have seen on a few occasions who has been a bit mean to strangers and to me. I would want to know what has happened to her that makes her behave this way? What is going on in her life that she feels she must act so rudely to others? She doesn’t anger me, she makes me a little sad…as it seems like she is quite lonely much of the time. Besides her rude behavior, she is a very bright woman, competent and well-versed in the ways of the world. It’s just sad that sometimes people won’t get to see that because she chases them away.
I would like to see her (the elderly lady) to step into the shoes of some of the people I have seen her be mean to. She might see that she and they are very much alike, or she may see that her words may have really hurt them on an already hurtful day. She may see that some of the assumptions she makes are not true and that she’s mistreating good people.
Poignant post…it reminds me of a post over on The Liberated Way about learning from elephants, http://liberatedway.com/2012/11/01/learning-from-elephants/#comment-4545 that I read today.
Oops, didn’t mean to leave the comments link. I meant to leave just the link to the post, http://liberatedway.com/2012/11/01/learning-from-elephants/
Thanks for the comment, Niko. I love how you want to help someone who is rude. Most of the times we want to retaliate. It would be great to have the power to both understand and help this elderly woman. I always want to tell people like this that they are creating their own unhappiness. They might think that others are bothering them, but it is their own attitude that creates their annoyance and rudeness. I know this from personal experience, because so many things used to annoy me.
“Empathico” brought on by a radioactive Tibetan lama!? How wonderful! Not to mention, I was tickled to see you mention Writing Ruth. You’re so kind. Thanks for a great post.
Thanks for the comment, Ruth. I’m flattered that you visited my blog. Thank you so much for the inspiration and for allowing me to swipe your gratitude sidebar idea.
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You are hysterical… Thanks for warning me. I will make sure to put on my zen suit when you visit… 😆
oh look it’s Ultraman!
Such a wonderful blog. Bravo~
Thank you so much for reading older posts, Cindy. {{{hugs}}} Kozo