Objectivity, curiosity and compassion go hand and hand. If we can cultivate a sense of curiosity about our experience, we have achieved a measure of objectivity. This is an important first step toward developing compassion for ourselves in the way that we might for a loved one or even a stranger. We must remember that our pain is hard-won through struggle and through our attempts to adapt to a frustrating, challenging, and traumatizing world. Stepping back from and turning toward our distress allows us to see it for what it is, to experience it without feeling overwhelmed by it and then, to be curious about its contours, nuances and narratives. When we can see our suffering from this point of view, we rejoin the human experience and are no longer alone in our distress, we are sharing in universal suffering. This is the essence of compassion for the self as it cannot be separated from the compassion that we have toward others!