Through this process I have discovered a deeper level of compassion. It is a compassion rooted in the real world, and it includes myself. I realized that the compassion I used to have was detached and aloof. I was at the same time disconnected from patients yet overinvested in them. My aloofness and disconnectedness also caused a degree of social ineptitude and a lack of perception that made me capable at times of being a jerk to peers and co-workers. I am more self-possessed now and more genuinely connected with other people.