Empath: The worst mutant power ever

So a psychic told me I am an Empath.

So A) it must be true and B) I have Officially manifested my mutant powers. Finally. It has taken so bloody long. Just a sucky one where I absorb all the sucky emotions everyone has and it makes me feel like crap. So great. Not an awesome one where I can project my emotions. Because That would be Cool.

I am not sure I believe in Empaths though. I believe in being very sensitive to body language, micro expressions and nuances such that your ‘intuition’ would be in hyperdrive. And I believe in the weirdness that is mirror synesthesia… that means you can read people exceptionally well.

Anyway, maybe it is a thing. Maybe it is a thing similar to what I described… a sensitivity so intense you feel what others feel and it can literally affect you physically. I don’t know. I would feel more comfortable if someone said I was very intuitive. Because if it is a thing… then it sucks as a thing to have. She said, well, it helps you read people. Well, it also makes you sick apparently because of all the negative crapola out there. So who is winning there, eh? Not cool mutant power at all. Nope. Not at all.

However, in regards to what this psychic said… I do not think I’m an Empath.

Let’s define the characteristics, eh? from Psychology Today

Highly Sensitive

Giving, open, god listeners. But their feelings are easily hurt. And I would say, yeah, my feelings Used to be easily hurt until I started to just become more protective of myself and not put myself out there as much. But I am an exceptional listener. And it is like people Know that about me because strangers will just open right up.

Absorb other people’s emotions

Empaths take on other’s emotions good or bad. So negative ones can be draining. And this… well who doesn’t pick up on vibes and is affected by them? We pick up on tensions. We pick up on excitement and its contagious. I think.

Many are introverts

Empaths can become overwhelmed in crowds due to their sensitivity and prefer more one-on-one interactions. I can get easily overwhelmed by crowds. I like one on one or small groups. Crowds can disorientate me.

Highly Intuitive

Empaths are highly intuitive and listen to gut feelings. Yeah I do that and that is because those gut feelings tend to be quite accurate. Pretty damn good bullshit detector as well. I think that is just the way I am. Just very observant. I think some people just are this way. Something about our EQ and body language.

Need alone time

Need alone time to recharge. Well, I am very introverted so, yeah.

Can be overwhelmed in intimate relationships

can be intimidated by too much closeness or feeling consumed. I do not have this… I keep a good healthy distance in my relationships.

Targets for energy vampires

An empath’s sensitivity makes them particularly easy marks for energy vampires, whose fear or rage can sap their energy and peace of mind. These vampires may do more than drain an empath’s physical energy. Especially dangerous ones such as narcissists (who lack empathy and are only concerned with themselves) can make empaths believe they’re unworthy and unlovable. Other vampires include The Victim, The Chronic Talker, The Drama Queen, and more.

Psychology Today

I think we all now people who are soul sucking and we just do not want to associate with because they are so draining. I used to keep hanging around these people but then I realized it was really a torment to me. And now I actually just ditch them. No need to bring that on myself.

Rejuvenated by nature

Who isn’t? I mean I say this all the time to my family. That I Love the mountains and forests because I feel so much better and relaxed and at ease.

Highly tuned senses

Get overwhelmed by noise, smells, excessive talking. Yep. But I have Fibromyalgia and migraines so yeah very sensative senses

Huge hearts but sometimes give too much

It’s natural to want to reach out to these people and ease their pain. But empaths don’t stop there. Instead, they take it on—suddenly they’re the one feeling drained or upset when they felt fine before.

Psychology today

I do not feel that I do this. I feel like over time I have learned to conserve my energy. Too much Muchness gets to me and I am very aware of it.

So yeah my Empath Score is High. But that is if it is a thing that actually exists in the world. If it is, then yeah, I am. Or a highly sensitive person. And all this has earned me is anxiety and depression and stress. And so if it is a thing that exists in the world then i say what a sucky mutant ability it is. Boo. I would much rather be a telepath. Thanks.

However, seems to me an Empath is a rather common thing. An intuitive introvert that is rather highly sensitive and aware of their environment. So a fuckton of us then. Or am I just thinking that because I seem to fit the criteria so well? Or thinking that because I do like this wishy-washy title? It just seems so flaky. And I don’t like flaky. I mean, I don’t mind pondering mystical and flaky things… i just do not like them being Applied to Me.

However, something she said did rather make me wonder. I worked in a toxic work environment. And prior to that I was chronically ill with fibromyalgia and migraines (frequent migraines). I went to work there and my health Tanked. My migraines became every damn day. I became severely depressed. Severely. And suicidal. And she said, ‘Of course you did, you were sucking up the negativity of that toxic person and all the negativity of the stresses everyone was under and it was eating you up because you were not getting rid of it or protecting yourself’. And I wondered about that. Because away from there, on leaves, and just Away, I feel so much more in control of my emotional and mental well-being… but the pain is what it is. Go back to work and then it my health Tanks again. And Again. So much so that I really felt that work was the main issue. It is now the main issue due to other health issues but at that time I wonder if it was that damn place that made me so damn sick so damn fast. But I think… stress would do that to anyone, especially someone with a chronic illness.

Anyway, I don’t think that makes a case for being an Empath. I would say I’m quite intuitive. A great reader of people. A great bullshit detector. A good judge of character. A great listener of what people say and what they do not say. But there is so much involved in that. So many things make someone great at those things. High EQ. Reading micro expressions giving one gut feelings and judgement calls that turn out to be right more often than not but for reasons you cannot say… but it is just reading those split second expressions and more obvious body language.

A lot of introverts, by the way, are very sensitive to crowds and noise and external environments. And many of us are good listeners.

So Empath? Or just intuitive?

Does the label even matter?

What matters I think is what to do about it. What they say with Empaths is that we are absorbing emotions we Do Not Own. Including negativity that affects us negatively. Maybe so. But maybe we are just highly sensitive. And maybe we are prone to anxiety and depression. Either way, the best treatment it seems to me is meditation… just a specific visual meditation. And doing so has helped me… so what does it matter what it has called? As long as I do something to manage it, eh?

Either way, I find meditation to be something that helps with chronic illness, depression, pain… all that. And so more of it, helps more. And if it helps with this so called Empathic ability of mine, So Be It. Because, yeah, don’t like the idea of it at all.

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