The Conversation Factory Book Club: The Creative Empathy Field Guide with Brian Pagán

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I'm so excited to share this book club experiment with you. I've been inviting alums of my facilitation masterclass and subscribers to the conversation factory insiders group into intimate conversations with authors of transformative books. In this conversation, my friend Brian Pagán, Author of "The Creative Empathy Field Guide," is our guest.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Brian points out early on that empathy is lauded by many thought leaders and no lack of articles - with the simple, inspirational message that empathy is good for you! And while that is absolutely true, what is missing is the</span> <strong><em>how</em></strong> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">of empathy - not the why. Brain sought to fill this gap with his book, "the creative empathy field guide" which is a very short and very helpful book....and if you follow the</span> <a href= "https://thegreatness.studio/creative-empathy/"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> links to Brian's website at the Greatness Studio</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, he's got a "greatest hits" selection from the book that you can access, free of charge.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So: Just to clarify our definitions: Creative Empathy is the use of empathy in the creative process. That is, we are making things and those things are not for us. So, we must learn to both connect with those people we are creating for and to detach from them - we have to tap into our skills of emotional agility to lean in and out of creative empathy.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One thing that you'll find most surprising (or at least I did!) is that creative empathy benefits from some of the tools of method acting - the ability to connect to your own experience and bring that experience into the present moment.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One thing that is missing from this conversation is my friend and guest from early in 2021, Dr. Lesely Ann Noel, who really helped me understan