Eric’s Corner
Friday–August–22–2025
🌀 Reflections from the Spiral: Compassion Instead of Mirroring.
For most of my life, I mirrored people. If they were calm, I was calm. If they were angry, I grew sharp. If they were distant, I pulled away. It felt natural, automatic — as if I were only ever a reflection.
But recently, I’ve started practicing something new. Instead of mirroring anger, I’ve been trying to meet it with compassion. When someone comes at me sharp, I let the sharpness soften. When someone is angry, I resist the urge to give anger back.
It feels strange, because mirroring always gave me a sense of fairness. You give me this, I give you that. But fairness can be cruel. If someone hands me anger, and I hand it back, the exchange multiplies the pain. No one walks away lighter.
Compassion interrupts the echo. It doesn’t erase the other’s feelings, but it refuses to carry them forward as weapons. It chooses to meet heat with coolness, storm with stillness.
This doesn’t mean becoming a doormat. It doesn’t mean swallowing every injustice. It means holding my ground without adding more fire. It means remembering that I don’t have to become what I’m confronted with.
I used to think compassion was soft, fragile. Now I see it as one of the hardest disciplines. It takes more strength to resist reflection than to fall into it. More strength to stay myself than to become someone else’s anger.
The spiral turns, and I see now: compassion is not mirroring at all. It is illumination. It reflects back light, even when shadow is cast.
Thank you for turning,
For reading,
For listening,
For spiraling with me,
Eric.
P.S. If this reflection landed with you, I’d love to know. Tap the like button, leave a comment, restack it, share it, subscribe, or just follow along.
Wise words. Thank you.