Empathy And Its Baggage

lately we’ve all seen the talk about the ups of this “gift” like it’s only bestowed on the fortunate as a spiritual enhancement. It’s what makes you so special, enlightened and your farts smell like palo santo when you sit Indian style. We’ve heard of the powers of the dark empath and it’s waging wars on the all powerful and ever present narcissistic prick. There’s a deeper shadow to being an empath that is crippling. Sometimes it’s hard to find a charging station in todays fast paced, highly informed worlds.

Empaths can start to feel socially left back, lack words to express themselves after years of trauma that they hold for themselves and can feel from others. They’re the best fakes or the best friends and they know it. They smile at the story of your life and cleanse themselves of all your hidden details when you leave. You can’t hide from them. They’re the master of hide and seek and you can’t find them with oppressive day to day chit chat. If you haven’t heard from one for a while, they’re doing what they need to do to regain enough essence to share what’s left of them. Headphones, ice bath, passionflower, and moon dance. A lot of Empaths need a few close friends. Too many friends means too many mixed feelings and faked emotions they can’t play a tune to.

Last week, I had an emotional meltdown that was welling up for years. Emotions I stored away because I was too busy handling life to find a healthy enough or long enough release for them. As I write this now I can feel the burden lifted and I just took the best breath I’d taken in days. Becoming grateful you’re reading this for me. Everyone is pretending to be strong in a time of crisis and that is suffocating in and of itself. Everyone wants you to be hardened the way they are and then get up the same person after taking hit after hit, wave after wave. What is so hard about being softer?

I’m not saying fall to your knees and stay there. Your body will tell you things about how to heal and a lot of times you won’t have time to listen. Make time, your health depends on it. Nobody cares if the type A thinks they will never have a meltdown or so and so always looks so put together. Our perception of this world is all our own and your body, the temple you choose to live this life in, needs you to listen and speak to it. Speak to your cells, go to reiki, do the sensory deprivation and don’t feel weird about it. Feeling everything deeply is a depressing pain in the entire body and if you don’t hold yourself accountable for this gift, your body can hold you captive from the rest of your life.

If you don’t have any sensitive friends to share these feelings with or everyone is too wrapped up in their own lives, it’s ok to be be the sensitive friend in your own life. This isn’t a top 10 ways to know your an empath. Trust your body is telling you so and plug yourself back in the way it needs you to. Speak to your cells the way you would speak to plants you want to grow and nourish the world around around them. If you were the type of person like a plant that didn’t have proper nourishment, now might be a good time to address that and readjust your living situation before you risk your well-being.