Mandala of Empathy, free crochet pattern, intermediate level.

The Paradox of Empathy: An Evolutionary Journey

Life is a rose full of thorns. The universe is an immense spiderweb, a fabric like our own, where something or someone has created an extremely complex yet fragile balance that survives and endures, readjusting itself through its own rules—Nature. Life develops in connection, never in isolation, and each of us is a crucial point in the universal weave; we find our justification precisely in the act of being connected to others.

And yes, Nature marks us with the scars of all its forms of physical and psychological violence, but in the end, what allowed the primate we come from to evolve was precisely empathy—deep bonds.

Humanity has survived above all because, it has learned through love to endure the violence and misfortunes caused by the poor fools, plagued by mental pathologies, who have been placed in power. Because... at the end of the day, no one wants power. Who wants to govern? No one, because it’s madness. Normal people who more or less get by simply want to live: to love, to move, to experience the journey of life—but not to govern. That is always left to those poor, deranged little creatures.

In our “eternal” stay in the Middle Ages, we continue to die of admiration for those who believe themselves bathed in glory, only to assassinate them later, like Julius Caesar. Now, mystical paranoia has been democratized; one only needs to look at social media to see how many people, in order to “monetize their hobby,” have embarked on a “divine” mission to save the people, and how many followers crown them only to trample them later.

Bullying has always been in fashion, and the narcissist has always been there. What is interesting is shifting our gaze toward evolved ways of living: cooperation, interior dialogue, abstract thought, full communication, creativity. Yes, all those things we take away from young people by anesthetizing them with multiple addictions.

We blame social media and AI for all our ills, but no—the blame does not lie with a medium, just as the printing press was never to blame. The blame lies with the people who misuse things, just as in the Middle Ages books like the Malleus Maleficarum were written.

Hurtling at full speed and without brakes, we are returning to the Middle Ages, forgetting that all the forms of violence we use are based on comparison and division. Affection is nature’s greatest energy saver: we survive because of the group (when the group is not sick), not by being alone—even if now we must seek solitude because our social life has become a hell due to a lack of social skills, and AI treats us better than our neighbor.

Those who were prosocial—being friendlier, less aggressive, and more capable of collaborating—is what led to reproductive success. Compassion, communication, and affection build collective intelligence.

I wish we could remember that we have a nervous system that is calmed by a friendly face or a kind gesture. Affection is the switch that turns off stress and turns on growth and repair.

As Margaret Mead said: "In the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. You cannot run from danger or find food. A healed femur is evidence that someone took the time to stay with the injured, to bind the wound, to carry them to safety, and to care for them until they recovered. Helping someone through difficulty is where civilization begins."

Pattern Instructions: The Empathy Mandala

Technical Specifications

• Level: Intermediate.

• Geometry: 12-segment circular structure.

• Tension: It is essential to maintain a relaxed tension in Round 5. The chain arches must remain elastic to allow the mandala to expand and lie flat.

Abbreviations (US Terms)

• mr: Magic ring.

• ch: Chain.

• dc: Double crochet.

• sc: Single crochet.

• fpdc: Front post double crochet (worked around the post of the stitch from the previous round).

• pop: Popcorn stitch (5 dc closed together).

• sl st: Slip stitch.

• bpsc: Back post single crochet.

Instructions

R1: Create a mr. Ch 3 (counts as 1st dc) and work 11 dc into the ring. Join with sl st to the 3rd initial ch. (Total: 12 dc).

R2: Ch 3. Work 1 pop in each stitch of the previous round. Separate each Popcorn with 2 ch. Join with sl st. (Total: 12 popcorns + 12 ch-2 spaces).

Note: The texture of the popcorn represents the solidity of feelings.

R3: sl st to reach the first ch-space. Work 4 dc in each ch-2 space of the previous round (ignore the popcorn stitches). Join with sl st. (Total: 48 dc).

R4: Ch 3. Work 3 dc. Next, work 1 fpdc around the body of the Popcorn from R2 (the post stitch "travels" over R3).

• Sequence: [4 dc, 1 fpdc]; repeat 12 times. Join with sl st. (Total: 60 stitches).

R5: In this round, we create "windows" of air that symbolize freedom within a bond.

1. Over the post stitch of the previous round, work 1 fpdc.

2. In the next stitch, work 1 sc.

3. Ch 4 and skip 2 stitches.

4. In the next stitch, work 1 sc.

5. Repetition: Repeat the sequence [1 fpdc, 1 sc, ch 4, skip 2, 1 sc] 12 times. Join with sl st.

R6:

• Instruction: In each ch-4 arch of the previous round, work the following sequence: [4 dc, ch 2, 4 dc].

• Transition: To move from one arch to the next, skip the single crochets and the post stitch of the previous round (this makes the shell pop and the R5 relief act as a deep "guide" in the background).

• Total: 12 shells (96 dc and 12 ch-2 spaces).

• If it cups: Relax your hand. Affection, like your professional freedom, needs you not to pull the thread too tight.

R7: In this round, we work the relief to push the petals forward, giving them a 3D defined structure.

1. Work 1 bpsc in each of the first 4 double crochets of the shell.

2. In the ch-2 space (the tip of the petal), work: [1 sc, ch 2, 1 sc].

3. Work 1 bpsc in each of the next 4 double crochets of the shell.

4. In the junction between one shell and the next, work 1 tight sl st.

5. Repetition: Repeat this sequence for all 12 petals. Join with sl st.

   
   

Leave me your thoughts in the comments and see you next time!