WRITING AS AN EMPATH
The telltale sign of an empath is feeling and absorbing other people’s emotions and/or physical symptoms because of their high sensitivities. These people filter the world through their intuition and have difficulty intellectualizing their feelings.
When feeling overwhelmed by stressful emotions, empaths may experience panic attacks, depression, chronic fatigue, or exhibit other physical symptoms.
What has manifested the most with absorbing the emotions of others, especially with the combination of sound sensitivity, is the heavy, inescapable fatigue that covers me.
Traits of an Empath
Empaths are highly sensitive
Empaths absorb other people’s emotions
Many empaths are introverted
Empaths are highly intuitive
Empaths need alone time
Empaths can become overwhelmed in intimate relationships
Empaths are targets for energy vampires
Empaths become replenished in nature
Empaths have highly tuned senses
Empaths have huge hearts but sometimes give too much.
Writing as an Empath
One of the many joys of being an empath is having a strong sense of intuition and, in my case, a rich sense of visualization. This comes in handy when writing a scene and trying to evoke every sight, smell, and sound that one might sense. Another benefit is that my ability to visualize so deeply allows scenes to play out in my mind like a movie reel.
Writing exhausts me, not only because I must arrange words into paragraphs but also because it takes energy to detach myself from this world and enter another. This would not be so bad if, at the end of my writing day, my two young kids didn't come home in an uproar and with riotous noise, even on good days. My senses, already deeply engaged, become overwhelmed and frayed.
While I am still learning how to live with being an Empath, I am beginning to find ways to handle my hypersensitive system:
1. Time Management. I have to be very intentional about how I use my time. Just because something sounds good or is generally considered good does not always work.
2. Resting. I read a great article titled "Darwin Was a Slacker and You Should Be Too," in which Alex Soojung-Kim Pang shares an excerpt from his book on Nautilus about how many famous scientists did not work long hours and the importance of intentional rest. Since then, I have been more diligent about making time for rest.
3. Exercise. This could be yoga, walking my kids to school, or running. Whatever it is, exercise tends to siphon off collected emotions, which clears my head and allows me more space to write.
4. Nature. Spending time outside and in nature helps rejuvenate my spirit. Even better, I made a makeshift writing desk setup and I write outside when the weather is mild.
5. Saying No. I try to say ‘no’ more, not because I don’t want to participate, but because being around people is tiring. If I have a busy day around a lot of people, I may not be able to sit up and write the next day.
6. Use What I Absorb. I have yet to do this, but I want to experiment with using my intuitive ability to write. Although this sounds exhausting, I hope to harness it and use it for something more beneficial than adding emotional strain.
Cover Image: Eugène Delacroix. Crouching Woman, 1827. The Art Institute of Chicago