Being a compassionate mess means that we take the stance of a lifelong learner who will definitely make clumsy mistakes along the way. Finally the aspiration of becoming a cultural compassionate mess calls us to work with our own difficult emotions that arise as we explore taboo topics such as race, class, gender, sexual orientation and the like – these emotions will arise and we can respond to them with kindness and understanding. We could subdivide the categories of cultural compassionate messiness into 3 categories: compassionate critical self-reflection, cultural conversations with compassion, and compassionate approach to institutional accountability.

Recently, my colleagues and I were discussing ways to create learning environments that foster inclusion and belonging. During this conversation the question came up: “is the MI Spirit of Compassion, Acceptance, Partnership, and Evocation missing something?” I surprised myself with the enthusiasm of my reply “yes!” In this article, I hope to better explain why I hold this opinion. I will review some key points from Liberation Psychology and Cultural Humility. Ultimately, I will propose a new component that could be added to the MI Spirit.

This article discussed seeking and accepting feedback as a core skill needed in Cultural Humility (CH). The article draws on the book “Thanks for the Feedback” to discuss how one might begin to think about building these skills.