Saif Mohammed visited London to share learning around palliative care and a concept called “total pain — a concept that embraces not only physical discomfort, but also the emotional, social, and spiritual layers of suffering.” He had several everyday encounters with ordinary people where he realized compassion should not be reserved for those who are dying. There was a woman exhausted from caregiving, a mother unable to silence her child’s distress, and others “who want to speak but don’t know how, and in those who are afraid to listen.” Saif sees a need to teach children how to listen and hold another’s feelings, concerned that “if compassion is only taught in clinical settings—or only associated with the end of life—we risk losing it where it’s needed most: in the ordinary rhythms of daily living.”
