Empathy- (n.) a person with a preternatural ability to apprehend the emotional state of another individual. One who feels the emotions of others.
Darling,
You are not alone.
Close your sweet little eyes and listen for just a moment. Push away those tears that fall every time you scroll past images of your friends at the beach, the ones that fall when you hear that old song playing, or when you see a girl just like you, struggling to find herself.
Yes, I’m talking to you dear. You. You’re the empath. You feel everything so strongly; everything.
You feel what others feel in their times of need, sometimes even more than they feel themselves. You are the listener, the support, the “mom” of the group.
You purposely ignore the little colorful camera icon on your app screen, the one that pulls up the joys in others’ lives. Why? Because every image, somehow, soaks into your soul. You begin to analyze and compare, you absorb the feelings that are vibrating through the image. Yes, darling, that’s you.
You cry for the sake of crying; you cry to feel. Others assume the usual, “She’s just sensitive.” But, darling, it’s more than that.
You’re an empath.
You listen to songs on repeat, stare at pictures, reread a line in your book, just to feel.
People have always told you that you’re too “emotional;” that you’re “moody.”
No, darling. You’re an empath.
You hurt easily. Your energy is palpable and when you are drained of feeling, the room echoes behind you.
It’s okay, darling.
I do too.
I am an empath. I feel “too deeply;” I hurt “too much.”
You are not alone. You are strong; stronger than most– you feel all feelings at once. Embrace it. Be “too sensitive;” be “overly emotional,” the world needs people like you and me.
We feel for the sake of feeling. It drains us at times, but guides us at others. We are necessary.
You are necessary.
So, darling…keep on crying for your friends’ pain, cry for the girl on your feed that finds beauty on the beach, cry for the people that can’t find it in them to cry themselves, and most importantly, cry when you read this.
Because you are not alone.
You are an empath.