Compassion supports Courage : The Origin Story

December 13, 2020

It was one of those regular lockdown days in the month of June for two facilitators sitting in two corners of the world. Jon was in Denmark and Sohini was in Kolkata. A chance conversation over a dialogue reflecting on the rising mental and emotional health crisis during the COVID lockdown encouraged the co-founders to courageously try and do what very few had considered doing online. They decided to bring compassionate communication to create a safe space for dialogue on the most difficult topics including abuse, faith, hope, fear, and identity. Online Circle of Compassion was born to bring to life the possibility of having a safe space to find the self while building community.
The OCC Community and Facilitation design were born from a space of deep reflection on the need to inculcate compassion in the approach to attune with the speaker while listening to provide relief and support without offering any form of counselling or prescriptive steps.  OCC was meant to help the participant just "be" while navigating through tough emotions as the community held the space for reflection and to support emergence. As more facilitators joined the network and community, OCC helped people with linguistic barriers to reach out and share too! We have facilitators from over 6 languages supporting the community and inviting more people in.
Compassion brought Courage to people as it enabled them to face their fears, trauma and prejudices through dialogue. As we see it in the community, Compassion and Courage go hand in hand. Don't take our word for it. Come experience it! Reach out to us at onlinecircleofcompassion@gmail.com.