What kind of person would I be if I wasn't ...

... born into poverty, would I have compassion for the poor?
... born to mentally ill parents, would I have compassion for the mentally ill?
... female, would I have compassion for women who need access to affordable reproductive healthcare? Would I be pro-choice?
... the daughter of an Irish immigrant, would I have compassion for immigrants from other countries?
... a lesbian, would I have compassion for people in the queer community? Asexual people? Trans people? Non-binary gendered people? Genderqueer people? For people in other minority groups?
... a foster child, would I have compassion for young people struggling in that system? For young people struggling as they age out of the system?
... bullied in school, would I have compassion for the underdog?
... physically and sexually abused as a child, would I have compassion for child abuse victims and survivors of childhood sexual abuse?
... raped, would I have compassion for rape victims?
... someone with an eating disorder, would I have compassion for people struggling with eating disorders or food addiction?
... an alcoholic, would I have compassion for the addicted?
... sober, would I have compassion for people struggling to stay clean and sober?
... a caregiver to parents with dementia, would I have compassion for people with dementia and their caregivers?
... a breast cancer survivor, would I have compassion for people without adequate health insurance? Without access to adequate healthcare? Living with a pre-existing condition?

We are the product of our environments and life experiences, and I know that I have relied on and benefited from the compassion of others as I faced all of the challenges stemming from these different aspects of my identity, my childhood, my adult life.

I would like to believe that had I lived a different life, I would still be compassionate and know right from wrong on all of these issues, but what if that wasn't the case? Every moral, social and political value that I hold dear is rooted in my experiences with different kinds of oppression, with the consequences of being neglected and abused as a child, with facing my own mental health issues, eating disorders, addictions, breast cancer, and the resulting chronic health concerns resulting from these experiences. All of my choices are the result of my experiences. But is that the only thing that makes us who we are?

I am surrounded by people who have not had all of these experiences, who are just as or more compassionate as I. But there are also people in this world who have many of the same experiences who do not seem as compassionate.

What IS it that makes us compassionate? What is it that makes YOU a compassionate person?