(Bonus points if you sung the title in tune)
15 Signs You're an Empath
(as found here: https://www.healthline.com/health/what-is-an-empath)
Major Empathy: mhmmm
Easily Overwhelmed: yes
Strong Intuition: yupper
Love of Nature: definitely!
Dislike of Crowds: hell to the yeah
Deep Caring: uh huh
Problem Solving: yup
High Sensitivity: eat near me and die
Need for Rest: you betcha
Dislike of Conflict: I can’t talk right now I have to go brush my dog’s teeth...
Trouble Fitting In: since grade school
Isolation: sometimes
Boundary Issues: si
Unique View: yes
Easily Overloaded: (see easily overwhelmed)
I’ve always kind of felt like I was an empath. However, I knew little about what it was and unleashed judgement. Having a scientific background and a conservative familial influence I thought being an empath meant you were “new age spiritual”. That you smelt like incense, had a wardrobe made of hemp, and every other stereotype that came with it in your pack-sack.
Along with adding years to my age came personal growth. With that personal growth I discovered that being self-aware, emotional and sensitive doesn’t make me any less of a scientist, when really it makes me more human. Accepting and allowing us to be human is a piece I believe we are slowly forgetting as we progress towards science. But that’s a whole other post.
Right, back to being an empath. What is an empath? Being an empath means I can pick up on other’s emotions and ultimately I carry around the weight of everyone’s shoulders on top of my own. Sounds kind of heavy doesn’t it? Which is why empaths leak emotions out through tears, why we avoid conflict and closeness. Why we need sleep and alone time. We need time with nature to re-adjust and align ourselves to our own roots.
So what does that mean to those closest to me? I need your patience. Give me time to respond, give me time to release. Try creating a judgement free zone when I am with you. I need you to respect my boundaries when I am brave enough to do so. It’s a big deal for empaths to speak up for our own needs. For me I used to only speak up when my final straw broke (this won’t be the case anymore though... I’ve seen the light).
Basically be kind; consciously so.
Some of you will think I’ve completely fallen off the rocker and having this kind of personality is bull. So I leave you with this: a person who is colourblind may not see the same colours as you; but that doesn’t mean those colours don’t exist.
Photo by Allison Heine on Unsplash