Friends and Detergent

So I am sitting here in the laundry room/lounge in the basement of Bean (my dorm). I'm hanging out with my artist friend. She wasn't doing to good and then we talked for a while and now she seems to be doing a little better and smiling a little more. I think this is what I thrive on. Listening to people's problems, giving advice and trying to make them feel better. I find myself doing it all the time. The best is when I know I have friends who will listen to my shit as well and have the same effect. My artist friend is becoming one of those wonderful people. Well, she already is a wonderful person but she is really becoming a good friend. I also have met a girl from Ashland who is an actress and very similar to me in many ways. I already feel as though I can talk to her and she can come to me with her troubles. I am lucky to be acquiring friends like these. I think that one of the main reasons I like counseling people is that it allows me to gain more empathy. I learned recently in my Acting I class that Stanislovski's method for acting (the most widely used method for acting worldwide) can be summed up in that one word. Empathy. The ability to feel what others feel. The more I listen to the trials and tribulations my friends are having the more I am able to walk in their shoes. The greater the variety of people I can understand the wider my range as an actor. Conversely, the more of an actor I become the more empathetic I become. This kind of makes it harder for me to have contempt for anyone, much less hate anyone which can be difficult when I really want to be mad. But then the empathetic part of me kicks in and I start trying to see the situation from the other person's point to view which diffuses the anger almost every time. I guess thats why I'm such a pacifist. Well, my laundry is done.