A sense of belonging

"[The North Korean defectors'] life in the South is immeasurably richer and freer, but they crave a sense of belonging. 'Most South Koreans are indifferent to their plight,' [Andrei] Lankov said. 'And to not have your suffering recognized is an almost unbearable form of violence.'" -- Tom O'Neill, 'Escaping North Korea' in National Geographic. Full article

Is there anyone in my life whose suffering I'm choosing to stay blind to?

If I had to have violence in my life, let it be the slapstick comedy kind -- even the concussion-without-impact or the cake-batter-whiplash kind I experienced recently -- rather than the inadvertent cruelty of not hearing another human being's cry.