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Why Empaths Seem Insane
How to harness this superpower so it doesn’t kill you
I recently started dating an empath. I am also an empath. Most of my friends are empaths. Empaths are defined by their natural sensitivity to other people’s emotions. They (we) naturally feel and reflect back what others around us are feeling. They (we) are also sensitive to collective energies (for instance, I often feel a sense of heaviness, dread, and tiredness on Mondays even though there’s nothing specific in my life to trigger those emotions- also, side note to the side note, I research burnout, so I find this phenomenon really interesting).
Being surrounded by empaths may seem like a recipe for eternal bliss- how liberating to be around people who can literally feel what you’re feeling! You never have to explain yourself- it’s all right there! But, especially in becoming intimate with another being who, like me, is a quivering divining rod for deep emotions, I began to see the truth- empathy is a superpower that can kill you if you don’t know how to harness it.
Emotions flit continuously through our inner landscape. As you move through your waking hours, there is literally not a time when you don’t feel an emotion. When us empaths are alone, these emotions can come and go, ebb and flow, rise and fall. We deal with them as best we can through breathing, acceptance, petting the cat, hard…
