Now, feeling empathy, and expressing empathy, are two different things. As a nurse, I’m a big believer in expressing empathy. Empathy really should be an active word, like “love.” Real love isn’t the tingles you feel in your belly when you think of your person. Real love is holding your person’s hand through the birth of a child, through receiving a cancer diagnosis, and during the chemotherapy that followed. Empathy is the same. If empathy is only a buzzword that flits through your head, and you don’t allow it to bring forth your helpful actions and thoughtful words, it’s not much good, is it?