We are led to express ourselves with honesty and clarity, while simultaneously paying others a respectful and empathic attention.

Allowing yourself to be fully present with the experience of being seen, however challenging it may seem at first, helps create a meaningful connection with another person. You’re not talking to a collection of atoms—you’re sharing an experience with a consciousness that’s beholding you as you behold it. If you can stay aware of this dynamic while

I’ve learned that if you find yourself in a hard conversation that is going south, there are ways to redeem it. First, you step back from the conflict, and you try to figure out together what’s gone wrong. You break the momentum by asking the other person, “How did we get to this tense place?” Then you do something the experts call “splitting.” Spl