ABSTRACT
My parents, who are in their seventies by the time I’m writing this, had just moved to South Africa after having lived in Austria for 40 years. When I asked my dad during a phone call how he was doing, he laughed and said, “How could you possibly understand how I was doing? I am an old man who has just moved to Africa!” He had a point. Regardless of how reective we are or how deep we delve into our souls, our experiential horizons are ultimately limited to the known shores of our own little worlds. Even the most empathetic person can never truly know someone else’s lived reality. It’s important to admit that. e biggest hurdle to truly understanding others is thinking we already do.
