Compassion is perhaps the most difficult of the seven characteristics to broach in a book such as this one. More than any of the other traits we've examined thus far, compassion can mean very different things to different people – we all have associations with that word (positive or otherwise) and yet there is not one shared meaning that makes sense across contexts. Is compassion love? Sympathy? Empathy, the ability to walk a mile in another person's shoes? Understanding? Forgiveness? Kindness? Or is it weakness, codependence, or enabling? Does being compassionate set us up to be fooled, or taken advantage of? Does compassion deserve a place in the academic environment? Where do we establish our personal and professional boundaries if we are also trying to be compassionate? Does a commitment to compassion also require a particular ideological, political, or religious stance? Are we born with compassion, or can we develop it? And what does compassion look like in practice?

Frankly, we don't know the answers to all of these questions. It would probably have been easier not to address the concept of compassion at all – as bound up as it is with notions of love, sensitivity, forgiveness, boundary-crossing, politics, and religion as it might be. These can feel like unwieldy or uncomfortable subjects to broach within the context of the academic workplace. Yet, despite these challenges, we feel compelled to articulate what we mean by compassion in the professional settings that scientists most often find themselves in, because we believe that cultivating a compassionate heart is a key ingredient to becoming a joyful person both in and beyond the workplace.

Before we discuss compassion, we first discuss what compassion is not.

1. • Agreeing for the sake of agreeing so that we please others or avoid conflict or difficult conversations is not compassion. Superficially, agreement seems to promote alignment and harmony. But when by agreeing we do violence to ourselves or to our values, when such agreement sets us not in a path of “right action,” then we are violating ourselves, our principles, or our peace of mind.