We recently connected with Echaka Agba and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Echaka, so excited to have you with us today and we are really interested in hearing your thoughts about how folks can develop their empathy? In our experience, most folks want to be empathic towards others, but in a world where we are often only surrounded by people who are very similar to us, it can sometimes be a challenge to develop empathy for others who might not be as similar to us. Any thoughts or advice?
Empathy isn’t always a conscious decision. It happens to you whether you notice or not and doesn’t always lead to nice or kind outcomes. For me, I’ve found that empathy is innate to my human experience. I’m an empath. This has taken a long time to really understand. We know that empathy is not sympathy. Empathy is actually holding the feelings and emotions of others. I’m susceptible to how others are feeling around me. And that can really mess with my sense of self and core values. So the development has been more of not allowing empathy to rule my thoughts, feelings and actions in all occasions. I want to be able to identify empathy, understand that it’s there and then create a boundary between my own experience and others. It’s been about learning to refine a wonderful gift. I’ve worked to know myself better which has helped develop a stronger, deeper connection with understanding empathy and allowing grace for myself and others.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’ve been an actor, both on stage and on camera, for 15+ years but during the start of the pandemic I found myself needing other ways to express myself artistically. I started signing up for classes and heavily researching how to make films. By May of 2021 my partner, Kristina Valada-Viars, and I had made our first short experimental doc, The Root: Looking for Ancestors in my Father’s Garden, which is still showing in festivals. Its next screening will be in Film Diary NYC (https://filmdiary.info/about) in late January. This film is a part of a collection of short films called Where Could We Go: A Map of Finding Home (https://wherecouldwegoseries.com/). We’re currently working on the third film of the collection. I’m also a teaching artist helping students find and cultivate their authentic artistic voice in performance and playwriting. It’s a journey I’m grateful to be on.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Discernment. It’s an incredible skill which has helped me along this journey. Work to tell the difference of what you really want versus what others want and if it’s suitable for you.
Clarity. Whether it was asking people I was collaborating with or asking myself for clarity on what I wanted, clarity led to a sense of stability for me. Which allowed me to enjoy myself more. How clearly do you know what you want?
Bravery. To be yourself, to evolve and grow, to take leaps of faith.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love by Sonya Renee Taylor
This book is the truth. It’s powerful and helped me build a foundation for liberation thought and practices. Self-Love is it.
Contact Info:
Website: http://wherecouldwegoseries.com/
Instagram: @WhereCouldWeGo
Image Credits
Ikenna Stovall
