A while ago, I came across an amazing blog called 30 Traits of an Empath which covered many more traits than I come across before. They were written in a very clear and succinct way.
I approached the author, a very humble person, to see if she or he (I can’t be sure on the gender) would give me permission to discuss them with my guides and post them here. I was told that I may.
The traits will be presented in their original form and if you wish to see the entire list, (and if you haven’t, I really recommend that you do) you can do so here.
As always my guide’s responses are in italics.
4. Watching violence, cruelty or tragedy on the TV is unbearable: The more attuned an Empath becomes the worse it is and may make it so they eventually have to stop watching TV and reading newspapers altogether.
Personally, I find watching the news pretty frustrating, especially since it’s designed to emotionally manipulate and enrage you. I tend to catch the headlines, but I don’t really go further than that. On some level, it’s important to know what is happening out there and where everyone’s attention is.
Being an Empath means that when public sentiment and emotions are high, you are more likely to pick up it and become vulnerable.
It also depends if you’re attuned to such things or not. You could have absolutely no resonance with anything that is happening that day, and so you will not sense it.
Remember, Empaths tend to pick up on those things they relate to on some level. Sympathy pains are simply pain you resonate with in your own body. There are fears and deep seated traumas that can make them manifest when someone else brings them up. They can also be health issues that are not yet detected or are unresolved. You can take them as warnings or cautions that you are vulnerable to the same thing that is being discussed.
Weren’t we discussing the news?
The discussion is about resonating with what you are seeing on TV or when reading the newspaper. This, in effect, is about sympathy pains. Something many Empaths are vulnerable to.
Okay. I was expecting to get into a dialogue about how media is manipulative and should be treated with caution.
There isn’t much that doesn’t fall into that category. Most things you come across are manipulative in some way. This is because people are trying to achieve an end result and will craft their words and ideas in order to do that. So, yes, you can certainly suggest this is true for the media, but don’t separate them out to be the bad guys. They are simply providing a service that the public ask for. Otherwise they would not be doing it in the first place. Business goes where the money and demand is.
Of course, this is true for controlled media, too. In countries where it’s controlled by the government of the day, the media is especially notorious for trying to manipulate people. One way or another, they will succeed, though not always with the intended results.
When it comes to newspapers, televisions, movies and any other kind of communication media, you will often find that the more sensitive you become, the choosier you will become about what you decide to watch.
I know there are some movies or plots that always bring an emotional tear to my eye, even though the actual plot is contrived and paper thin.
That’s because you resonate to them on some level. You’re not reacting to a well-crafted story, you’re reacting to a deep longing, or possibly trauma that may even be based in a past life.
This is true for most people, empathic or not. They will watch the most contrived product because it’s a reflection of their own desires and experiences. If you can reach people on an emotional level, you can sell just about anything.
So back to the original point. Violence, news, and so on are hard for an Empath to cope with.
The only other point I will make is that many Empaths actually can sense when something isn’t true. So if they read or see it in the news, it will spark their sense of outrage and possible anger. No one likes being lied to of told things they know aren’t true, and an Empath will pick up on that pretty quickly.
So avoid the media?
No, not entirely. It’s worth knowing what is going on. Just don’t put any emotional investment into it. It is what it is, and is a general reflection of the current social situation. People love their drama. You don’t have to be part of it. You just need to be aware so you can act accordingly.
Related articles
- Empath Series: 30 Traits of an Empath by Just Be – Trait 2 – Crowds or party on, dude??? (areyouanempath.com)
- Empath Series: 30 Traits of an Empath by Just Be – Trait 1 – Knowing or what is truth? (areyouanempath.com)
- http://theknowing1.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/at-a-glance-30-traits-of-an-empath/(theknowing1.wordpress.com)
So very true and exactly what I was discussing with a friend at the weekend! Thank you for sharing 🙂
This is true…Its very difficult for an empath to not only absorb but also know when the truth isnt told and we know it. It’s even frustrating when we tell our loved ones whats really going on behind those curtains but they wont listen to us and when the news finally speaks the truth (or someone else says it) they believe it and then we empaths say “Ive been told you that!” lol but we know that the media is corrupted. And the violence is also getting worse, I saw that there is a new bullet that can rip all of your organs to shreds and seeing this made me pretty afraid of whats going to happen later on….ever since I was a kid I have always felt scared of the future(like after 2015), like it was dark or something but I’m not entirely sure if it will be(second guessing myself here lol).
True and free dictates that we will end up in the reality of our choosing. People who choose darkness will eventually find that darkness. And visa versa. Everything exists right now on all levels. Time is the illusion.
It’s an interesting thing that people who know you don’t listen to you, but they will listen to a total stranger.
Don’t fear the future. This world needs healing, but choose the outcome that all will heal and that things will improve.
Yes it is…or they’ll listen to their other friends, even though you’ve said it a million times.
And I wish it was that easy, I found out a lot of dark secrets about the world especially the country I live in, it’s just what we live in. It’s not unstoppable…it’ll be hard to to. The only thing I can do is ignore that darkness and be a light and protect those who are close to me and those who will listen. Maybe I can’t heal the world but I can heal the ones around me.
“just don’t put any emotional investment into it” I think this is one of the hardest skills that I have yet to learn…still shedding tears for some commercials. Any ideas on how to achieve the emotional detachment necessary?