What is an empath?  

I best describe it as the entering another’s person’s feeling and emotions intuitively at times.  My therapist said it’s a horrible trait but one that you can’t help and takes a lot of work to manage (I hate work).  

Think of a sponge – you absorb other’s emotion and physical pain but then the sponge doesn’t leak.  So now there energy is hanging inside you heavy as hell, weighing you down as if you yourself are going through it.  At times it’s like I’ve misplaced myself in this other person.

So I’m an empath, cool – what does that look like for me?  

Being an empath means I jump into relationships – they begin fast and are intense quickly because I dive deep and grab intimacy before I should.  Then that relationship fails because while now I’ve brought you into this deep and intense environment; I will also require distance and regular times of solitude but if you don’t want it I will not get it because I want to give you what you need.

Being an empath means people get addicted to me because I take them in.  I want to make their life better, I want them to feel important in this big bad world and I will do it at the demise of myself.

Being an empath means I am exhausted a lot because I say yes to things without thinking of what it would do to me, forgetting about my own needs and my own happiness.  Furthermore, the compassion that comes with an empath means I make excuses for other’s bad behavior – was it their childhood that made them this way?  Maybe the paranoia comes because of being hurt in the past? So many excuses that I can come up with for you.  Hate that shit about me.

So yeah this empath life is both a curse and a blessing. It takes works to not allow all energies in but then there is also the part of you that knows that the person trying to give you their energy, needs you.  So how do you choose what to allow?  I have no fucking idea, when you find out – please share. 

I called this piece “Half An Empath” because although I have this trait – I also at times ignore it.  My sponge opened it’s pores and took it but then I am wringing it so that it begins to drain out – it’s survival.  You’ll know when I’m practicing this, it’s when I shut off my phone and sometimes for a full day or two.  That is a type of boundary; my therapist and I worked on ways to get better at being an empath because it’s inevitable these may not be the same boundaries for you but toy with them and see if it helps: 

• Limit your time with people that end to unload on you without permission 
• Schedule your alone time; yes even if that means setting a reminder in your calendar
• Grounding myself whether that’s meditating or writing my thoughts 
• Stone practice – I haven’t tried this mainly because I haven’t taken the time to go and buy them and what to do with them but the stones are Labradorite, Smoky Quartz, Black Tourmaline & Hematite
• Be with nature – I help my parents garden a lot – it’s quite therapeutic and I count walking my dog for 15-20 minutes too
• Be intentional; don’t ask how someone is doing if you really can’t take that on.  They could need to vent and you may not be in that mindset today, so don’t ask – let them lead the conversation
• Mantra:   “I RELEASE ALL THE ENERGY FROM THE OUTSIDE BACK TO ITS OWNER AND REQUEST ONLY MY ENERGY BACK, PLEASE & THANK YOU”

See how much work it takes; I’m working on it as best as I can which isn’t daily.  

xx- JC