Tag: empath

Posted on

Are men empaths too? What about gay people?

I’ve seen this question asked, and I raised my eyebrows, thinking that I had never assigned gender, or sexual preference, etc, to if someone is an empath or not.

Fact is, empathy occurs in all walks of life. Men can be just as empathic as women, and straight people can be just as empathic as gay people.

I believe that while we are generally empathic by nature, the Empath is borne from having to be aware of the danger around them.

This generally starts at childhood, where there may be great trauma or danger around them. It might be child abuse, sexual abuse, incest, domestic violence, bullying, and all those things that make our childhood hell.

The child learns to become aware of warning signs, so they can try to avoid them. They will learn to sense the mood at home, even before they get there. They will learn to detect the energies of places and if they are safe or nurturing, even if they aren’t aware they are doing this.

Empaths appear to be a product of their environment, though that does not mean that there aren’t natural born empaths.

The problem is that those who are borne from childhood trauma are mostly unaware of what they have become. They do not realize they are extremely sensitive. They do not understand why others can’t see what they see, or feel what they feel. They do not realize that the depression and anxiety they feel is not how they should be feeling. They don’t get that others are not feeling the same way.

And if they eventually do come to that realization, they don’t understand it’s because they are an Empath.

Friends and families will tell them they are just too sensitive. Others will tell them to ‘get over it’, as though that advise is useful in any way.

Women are said to be more in tune with their feelings and abilities then men. For the most part, this is my observation, too, though there are certainly men who are just as sensitive.

Gender and sexual preference do not make an empath, though they possibly may enhance that ability.

Posted on

Thank God I’m not insane.

Every week or so, on average, I’ll get an e-mail from someone who has read my definition of what an Empath is.

The thing they say the most is that they’ve been an empath all their life, but never knew there was a name for it. 

A lot believed they were crazy, but once they did some research,. they found it explained what had been happening to them all their life. 

Some get very excited and want to know as much as they can, and others are just happy they have found an answer to their questions.

In general, though, there is a feeling of relief that they are not the only ones, and more importantly, there are others out there who understand what they are going through. 

I make it a point to answer every e-mail I receive, though it is the rare person who enters into any type of correspondence with me. 

Some feel weird that they are e-mailing a total stranger, while others feel guilty about taking up my time. 

It’s probably just as well that only around 1% keep in contact, as I don’t think they’d be enough hours in the day to keep up otherwise. 

Posted on

What is an empath anyway?

What is an Empath 
 Drawing by Anneli Rufus

What is an Empath?

It’s been asked before and will be asked many times again. What is an Empath? 

In short, an Empath is someone who picks up on the emotions and / or feelings around them. It may be the feelings of someone they are close to, or general feelings in a room. Many Empaths will even feel when there is a very strong emotion around the world, such as fear.

I believe that we are all empaths at some level, but it seems the majority are low level so that they aren’t aware of any other feelings but their own. They might be considered the lucky ones.

The ones who are prone to problems are what I call High Level Empaths. They are the psychic sponges of the universe, absorbing the emotions and any psychic pollution that is around them. Most of the time, they don’t even know they are doing this, and do not understand that the feelings they feel are not always their own.

For instance, you may be feeling pretty good, then suddenly, for no apparent reason, you experience a drop in your mood.

This may be due to someone, maybe a friend or partner, dropping in their emotions and you are picking up on this.

This is a sympathetic attachment, and it’s not unusual for someone to feel when another is down or depressed. It may even be a complete stranger.

If they are anxious, the Empath might feel anxious. This goes for heartbreak, pain, guilt and any other emotion.

In any case, it’s not healthy for the Empath to be this way.

Ungrounded

The Empaths that are psychic sponges also have a tendency to be ungrounded. This means that they do not wish to be here in the ‘now’, so they try and leave the body. As this doesn’t work, they are stuck in a no man’s land, where they can’t escape, but also can’t be here. 

The key to being grounded is self-confidence. When you feel as though you are out of your element, or that you do not belong somewhere, the tendency is to leave.

This becomes a vicious cycle, as the more ungrounded you are, the more negativity you tend to pick up, and the less you wish to return to your body.

Grounded people are rarely swayed by another’s feelings, even if they do feel them. Because of their confidence, they have a strong sense of self.

Clinical Depression

Empaths often suffer greatly because they do not understand what is happening to them. They are not aware that their feelings are not their own.

They do not understand why they feel depressed, anxious, desponded or full of guilt, and rarely will they connect this to what someone else is feeling.

Because of this, many High Level Empaths might be prone to clinical depression.  

They may even feel the desire to take away the pain of another, though this is not wise as it rarely works out well for either party.

Many are driven by feelings of guilt. For example, they may feel bad if they are feeling good, while others around them might be having a bad time.

Because of this, they may attempt to match their moods in order to show solidarity and sympathy.

This ends up making things worse for both you and the one you are trying to console.

Being an empath doesn’t have to be bad, though. It can be a very powerful and potent tool for connecting with others and helping them to heal. It can also bring an incredible amount of joy if you are able to control it.

Posted on

Psychic empaths – Introduction

Empaths… whether or not you believe in them, they do exist, and they are out there. I’m not talking about your general person who can empathize with others, or those who say, yeah, tough break man (better them than me!), I’m talking about people who can pick up on the feelings of others and feel them so strongly that they believe they are their own.

Those are what I call high level empaths; someone who picks up on all the emotions and energies around them, and are overwhelmed to the point where they feel like they are drowning.

Right now, there’s not a lot of information that I’ve found out there on this subject, and there appears to be less on the psychic side of being an empath.

Many empaths are also psychic. More likely than not, their psychic abilities are enhanced by their empathy.

The purpose of this blog is to explore all sides of being an empath, and all sides of being psychic.