Solnit and intertwining lives

I think Solnit brings out the notion of how lives intertwining when she describes empathy and emotion. How some of us can have it, while others are numb. Solnit describes empathy as: “Empathy is the capacity to feel what you do not literally feel…” (pg. 106) Solnit also describes emotion as: “Emotion has its geography, affection is what is nearby, within the boundaries of the self…” She is making a point with both that while some of us feel very connect with one another, some of us can feel so completely distant or numb. To me, Solnit is saying that emotion and empathy link us together by truly feeling something and acting on that feeling. She correlates the feeling of empathy to how a person can have leprosy and feels physical pain, where one can empathize for this person to the point of physically feeling it, which to me seems a little far fetched. But, I think a person can have empathy to a point to show compassion, but a person ultimately will lack understanding for what it is like to actually have leprosy. With both empathy and emotion, I think Solnit is saying those that truly do feel an intertwining but listening and then telling each other their stories.