I love this, Antila, thank you. As true as anything as it's always about the crazy feelings and how to process them. Cue your exceptional tips 1 and 2 for exactly this purpose, perfect!
"An empath is a person who feels these things directly, often called an emotional sponge." Careful there, Antila. Remember the common place kitchen sponge...just resting on the sill of the sink, a petri dish menace waiting to unleash the next mega-cootie black plague.
You are hilarious and insightful, my anti-labelist friend. This is a curse I've never considered quite this way. But I have thought a lot about the idea of 'suffering with others' and that it doesn't reduce their suffering one iota, only increases the net amount of suffering in the world.
For my oldest daughter, as a grief counselor, she takes her boundaries seriously and talks about the longevity of caring as inversely related to the intensity you allow. My middle daughter is not so naturally empathetic and I find that I can share more with her of other people's situations that I'm trying to sort out. And the youngest is my partner in seeing heartbreak on a global scale without getting dragged down by it. We share, in a sense, a hardness of the heart. If we didn't have it, we'd have to block it out of our awareness, for self-protection.
I recently told someone to keep your awareness large but your sense of well-being small. Look only at 'how am I right now? Are things okay for me?' You can't find meaning in anyone else's circumstance, only your own. Giving attention to how things work out in your own life can bring the trust that they'll work out, in the long run, for everyone. Not that bad things won't happen, but that they won't happen without meaning and purpose. Thanks for this perceptive essay.
What do you, Antila H. Belist, regard, from the center of yourself, the ability you describe in your article to be, a gift that adds purpose, meaning, spiritual elevation, etc. to your life, or a curse that you'd really like to be rid of? Because you have to determine the outcome you seek from the help/training you look for, i.e., to enhance or control the gift, or suppress or erase the effects of the curse.
OMG I FEEL THIS IN MY BONES
I love this, Antila, thank you. As true as anything as it's always about the crazy feelings and how to process them. Cue your exceptional tips 1 and 2 for exactly this purpose, perfect!
Thanks for this post. When I drive on the freeway, I pick up the trail of vibes in the lane in which I'm traveling. Interesting feeling.
"An empath is a person who feels these things directly, often called an emotional sponge." Careful there, Antila. Remember the common place kitchen sponge...just resting on the sill of the sink, a petri dish menace waiting to unleash the next mega-cootie black plague.
Have a care too about some nefarious Obi-Wan Kenobi doing Jedi mind tricks on you too. Gird thy loins...harden your heart. Same same-o. Don't be this guy. https://www.startpage.com/av/proxy-image?piurl=https%3A%2F%2Fx-default-stgec.uplynk.com%2Fausw%2Fslices%2Ff0a%2F45bf940c346f431c9be273b8942ab6eb%2Ff0a3ea41c0fc4b3a8afa48f146e36469%2Fposter_fc0f3fec76074f6eae68b444867844ed.jpg&sp=1711561741Td17e19f290a56fd0a128023f59989bb3519d40164b7d258320b34899e2274d6f
You are hilarious and insightful, my anti-labelist friend. This is a curse I've never considered quite this way. But I have thought a lot about the idea of 'suffering with others' and that it doesn't reduce their suffering one iota, only increases the net amount of suffering in the world.
For my oldest daughter, as a grief counselor, she takes her boundaries seriously and talks about the longevity of caring as inversely related to the intensity you allow. My middle daughter is not so naturally empathetic and I find that I can share more with her of other people's situations that I'm trying to sort out. And the youngest is my partner in seeing heartbreak on a global scale without getting dragged down by it. We share, in a sense, a hardness of the heart. If we didn't have it, we'd have to block it out of our awareness, for self-protection.
I recently told someone to keep your awareness large but your sense of well-being small. Look only at 'how am I right now? Are things okay for me?' You can't find meaning in anyone else's circumstance, only your own. Giving attention to how things work out in your own life can bring the trust that they'll work out, in the long run, for everyone. Not that bad things won't happen, but that they won't happen without meaning and purpose. Thanks for this perceptive essay.
What do you, Antila H. Belist, regard, from the center of yourself, the ability you describe in your article to be, a gift that adds purpose, meaning, spiritual elevation, etc. to your life, or a curse that you'd really like to be rid of? Because you have to determine the outcome you seek from the help/training you look for, i.e., to enhance or control the gift, or suppress or erase the effects of the curse.