Welcome Guest Blogger, Omar Brownson

Democracy and Empathy: Cultivating a Garden of Understanding

By Omar Brownson

Just as a flower needs the right environment to thrive, our democracy requires spaces where empathy and understanding can take root and grow. Inspired by forgiveness, a poem, the simple act of talking kindly to plants and a Gratitude Blooming Podcast interview with Democracy Center Director James E. Herr, we created the pop-up art and live podcast series Empathy and Democracy.

Combining poetic imagination, nature, and social impact, Gratitude Blooming is a collaboration among an artist, a poet, and a land steward—three Asian Americans dedicated to creating shared spaces that inspire us to notice and name the emotions we hold deep inside and build a better relationship with each other.

This four-part series, which took place over the last year, reminded us that the seeds of empathy, when sown in the fertile ground of democracy, can blossom into a more compassionate and connected society. What does it take to do this? There’s no simple answer, but we believe pausing—taking a moment to notice—is an essential practice. And practice is essential to disrupting our habits to fear the worst.

To inspire the pop-up art installation, I wrote the poem, “The Plant is Present,” which included the line “Imagine flowers / in voting booths.” Inspired by the idea that if democracy is a faith, then the voting booth serves as the altar where we practice our collective governance. The poem suggests that just as a plant requires care, attention, and a nurturing environment to thrive, so too does democracy demand our active participation, vigilance, and commitment to flourish. The plant invites us to pause. That was our hope for this series—to help people take a moment to reflect from a place of hope, not fear.

Part 1: Spaces for Reflection and Dreaming
Spaces—public, sacred, natural—are essential for reflecting and dreaming new ways forward. This series started with exploring our fears and hopes for democracy. In this episode, we began to understand how we can better navigate our lives and collective governance with greater intention. In the words of Bishop T. D. Jakes, the only difference between planting and burying something is intention. Only planting expects something to grow. Gratitude is a social emotion and when planted it can grow into greater social coherence.

Gratitude Blooming artist Arlene Kim Suda created a Forgiveness Booth which invited people to reflect in an enclosed space with found objects from nature, specifically a feather, a rock, a stick, and a shell. She said, “The art is really intended to be about pausing and noticing your energy in that moment, and pausing and noticing your personal power.” She went on to reflect that “if we’re unable to feel our own personal power, I think it’s hard to imagine how we can make a difference in our democracy, and so it just felt like the work that we have been doing is really about reclaiming that.”

Part 2: The Art of Practicing Democracy
Democracy is not a passive act; it’s an ongoing and messy practice that requires us to step out of our comfort zones. In our second session, Lea Endres, an entrepreneur, educator, human rights advocate, and the CEO of leadership software company NationBuilder, joins the Gratitude Blooming podcast cohosts for an inspiring conversation about the art of practicing democracy. This episode seeks to understand how we can PAUSE in order to better navigate our lives—and our collective governance. When we pause, we create space for what Lea calls the three steps of listening, speaking, and asking questions. When we take these steps, we find ways to humanize one another and build our capacity for greater empathy.

As Lea Endres said, “Democracy is not just about voting. It’s about people—each of us—and our relationship to the practice of democracy in our daily lives. It’s a muscle that we have to exercise to pull us together and towards democratic resilience.”

Part 3: Holding Space for Space Holders
Have you ever experienced a moment so quietly powerful that it demanded your full presence? With facilitators Angela Oh and Alex Dorsey, we captured just that kind of pause for people who hold space for both others and themselves. Angela, a civil rights attorney and ordained Zen priest, says “Perhaps a meditation practice begins with a nourishing meal and a safe place to rest.” So that’s what we did. We greeted thirty-five space holders with twenty feet of rose petals, a selection of teas and curated savory and sweet snacks, as we held a circle to reflect, explore our fears and hopes for democracy, and ask, “How do we want to be and live together?” This is our new ceremony: holding space with intention, a simple meal and listening to each other with generosity.

Part 4: Fearless Gratitude in Bloom
For the fourth and final part of Empathy and Democracy, we centered the practice of Fearless Gratitude through nature-based reflection prompts and guided meditations. In partnership with Visual Communications, by delving into edgier themes such as vulnerability and humility, we explored new depths of gratitude, imagining a world where we come alive together, not alone. The leaders, facilitators, coaches, and community builders who use the Gratitude Blooming platform know that trust is key to growing cultures of wellness and that it moves at the pace of openness to vulnerability. Gratitude makes visible what we value. Fearless gratitude helps us to see what we make invisible – those fears or challenges in our life. To close the event and also this series, we wrote our fears on seed paper and composted it in the dirt to honor our hopes and fears.

What’s next?
Building on the success of Empathy and Democracy, we are exploring an even more ambitious endeavor, The Social Empathy Project. This initiative aims to take our pop-up art and live podcast on the road. We envision traveling across various communities, holding spaces with art installations, gratitude circles, and even connecting with tea.
We hope these gatherings can serve as platforms for people of all types to connect meaningfully, share their stories, and cultivate a deeper sense of empathy and understanding.

As we look ahead, the work of fostering empathy and understanding becomes even more crucial, especially in the wake of our presidential elections in November. No matter who wins, we will still face a deeply divided country. The Social Empathy Project will play a vital role in bridging divides, promoting dialogue, and reinforcing the values of democracy and compassion.

The Gratitude Blooming pop-up art and live podcast series, Empathy and Democracy has shown us the incredible power of kindness, listening, and shared spaces. As we continue this journey with The Social Empathy Project, we remain committed to nurturing empathy, fostering understanding, and strengthening our democratic values. Together, we can create a world where every voice is heard, every story is valued, and every individual is treated with kindness and respect.

More about Gratitude Blooming

Belinda Liu, Nature-Inspired Visionary
Belinda Liu is a nonprofit education leader, coach, entrepreneur, and nature-inspired visionary. Her superpowers are shining a light on people’s strengths, bringing them out into the world, and creating life-changing tools and experiences for deep growth. She cofounded Gratitude Blooming and Hestia Retreat Center to lead new paradigms for personal and group transformation using nature, art and self-inquiry.

Omar Brownson, Storyteller
Inspired by land, stories and gratitude, Omar finds joy in making good visible. Omar is the executive director of the LA Community Garden Council, cofounded the gratitude app gthx (as in “gee thanks”) and cohosts the Gratitude Blooming Podcast. Previously, Omar was the founding executive director of RiverLA and has held leadership positions across finance, land use, and social impact. Currently, he is an advisor to Full Spectrum Capital and the Ubuntu Climate Initiative. Wherever he is, Omar makes sure to notice joy, healing, and synchronicity.

Arlene Kim Suda, Artist
Arlene is a lifelong aspiring painter, musician, poet, and designer. She believes life is one big practice of art when we stay open, curious, and pay attention to what we are moved to express in the world—and that the road to mastery requires continual learning and devotion to our craft. Her superpowers are time bending, being able to “hear” plants and poets, and feeling love even in the darkest places (all various forms of extreme patience, presence and understanding).

The Plant is Present
By Omar Brownson

Here we are
Lost in the wild
Of climate and inequality
Trying to reconnect
To our humanity

Maybe in the flower petal
We can see our hearts
Maybe in the pollen
We can smell our soul
Attracting

The plant
is present
Here, watching
Listening

Growing, breathing
Still
Imagine flowers
In voting booths

Growing out of composted
Constitutions
Checking the box
To our humanity