The other day a word popped up as I was zoned out going down a YouTube rabbit hole. It must have been a TED Talk where someone mentioned the term Sonder. Sonder is an interesting word that perfectly describes what being empathy-minded is. Sonder is a moment where you realize everyone passing you by has their own life, pain,obstacles, and challenges.
When we take risks in empathy seeking is when we realize those moments of sonder. That means seeking pain through revisiting connected moments of pain or being brave in your empathy seeking in terms of who you engage with. For a fashion designer orany other creative to engage outside empathy mindedness increases the chance they are not only designing a product but inevitably designing pain.
It is best to create when we are in moments of sonder and that does not come natural because we doget caught in our own problems and insecurities. For us to find the connection to design for other people we need to prime and remind ourselves that people are going through their own stuff too.
