Category: Empaths
Articles for and about empaths — the highly sensitive among us who feel what others feel, often without warning. These posts explore what it means to live as an empath, how to protect your energy, the everyday challenges and gifts of the work, and the deeper currents of empath identity that show up in real life and in fiction.
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Florence + the Machine: When a Concert Becomes a Ritual
At a Florence + the Machine concert, I recognized the same charged collective energy I’d felt in Southern Baptist tent revivals and large Wiccan gatherings. Different traditions, same underlying current—songs functioning as spells and prayers.
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Why “Fucking Bitch” Is So Triggering for Women
Let’s talk about the term, fucking bitch. And why it’s triggering to women. Or more specifically, how often women hear it and why. These are just the times we hear it, not the times it’s said. Yes, I’m actually spelling it out. If spelling the whole words out is truly offensive to you, ask yourself…
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The Leaning Pole: A Small Lesson in Being a Good Neighbor
Several weeks ago, getting ready for dental work to fix one of the little gifts left over by the “bad dentist” from 20+ years ago, I walked over to the grocery store to figure out what I wanted for dinner. I wanted to meal prep in advance—just in case I could eat normally afterward… or…
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How Research Saved Me from the Fate of Ophelia
Research has saved me from the fate of Ophelia, but maybe not in the way you might expect. I have mixed feelings about Taylor Swift’s new song, “The Fate of Ophelia,” even as I find myself unable to stop singing it. I’ve been intrigued by Hamlet’s Ophelia for over 40 years because to me, she…
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Quote about Empathy
From The Lost Teachings of Dead Monks by Lorna Tedder, a quote that captures Lilah’s gift for empathy and the burden of feeling others’ fears as her own.
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What It Is Wednesday: Who Ya Gonna Call?
On the gift — and the cost — of being the person everyone calls at midnight. A personal essay on empathy, connection, and the quiet labor of caring without limit.
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Why the Bullying Pattern in My Life Re-Surfaced
When the same painful pattern of emotional manipulation resurfaces in your life, there’s a reason rooted in early programming. A raw, unflinching essay on recognizing the cycle — and why this time, everything changes.
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The Relationship Between Empaths and Narcissists
Exploring the complex dynamics between empaths and narcissists reveals a fascinating interplay of emotional depth and surface-level self-absorption. For some reason, empaths and narcissists have become hot keyword searches for this website, no doubt because I’ve so often talked about my dealings with empaths (the real kind that feel others’ feelings) and narcissists (the real…
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Questions from Readers: Empaths, Dysfunctional Families, and Insomnia
Four reader questions, four quick answers: feeling an ex energetically before he shows up, protein drinks and sleep, why empaths exist, and how to find peace in a dysfunctional family.
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What Religion Is the Aurora Theater Shooter? And Does It Matter?
I am anxiously watching the news chatter on the“Dark Knight Rises”massacre and the latest breaking news this hour. As empathic as I am, it’s tough to watch or read about, and as happens with all tragedies, they reflect similar previous tragedies and bring long-buried pain to the surface. My first real understanding of what massacres…
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Exes, Marriage, and Karma
I’ve observed that karma usually has a special way of working out for people who lie or cheat—or lie and cheat. It’s called marriage. At the time of a break-up, the prospect of a lover marrying someone else—whether in a few months or few years–generally is met with despair. But I’ve learned differently. I’ve actually…
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Barbara Walters, Psychics, and Public Ridicule
I think maybe Barbara Walters owes “dangerous” psychic James Van Praagh an apology, but that’s mostly because—as an empath—I’ve worn Van Praagh’s shoes. I know what it’s like to be ridiculed for sending someone to get medical help. If you’re not familiar with the inciting incident, it happened on Barbara Walter’s TV show, The View,…
