Occasionally, someone comes along in my life that is not a natural empath, and they want to know how to do it.  What makes some people more sensitive to emotion than others?

To me the definition of 'natural' would mean this person had an ability to key into people quicker. I looked into what made some minds more ready to accept and analyse other people's suffering, and I came up with this:

I have found though, that mostly, you cannot just 'instruct' someone on how to care. That would largely depend on the person's moral and ethical values, their family structure, and their culture. Everyone is born to care. Infants have empathy, so we are hard wired for it. then what makes some people more apt to pick up emotion?

 It's often seen as more of an innate need that empaths have developed, in order to cope with the pain they see in either themselves, or others. I would partly have to agree with this theory, but then the other side of that argument would presuppose that people who
are not 'natural empaths' have never suffered.

So the argument that empaths are more sensitive as a whole is something I really have to question, as that would mean you would have to suffer to become an empath.

Contrary to popular notions, it's not always a traumatic event that creates an empath, though this can be an element for opening up for some people. Some empaths have stable life situations, with normal ups and downs, yet they can be extremely sensitive to other's suffering.

In my opinion, there would be no reason to think that one type of empathy would be 'superior' than the other. The definition of empathy is caring with someone, and that can be created as much through a loving home and heath, as traumatic events.

The one idea I would like to expound on is this: Does the 'empath' choose to become an empath, or is it 'thrust' upon them? Do they relinquish the will, and are they a slave to the emotions of others as well as themselves? Or do they seek it out? I know I did…

I would have to say, the key would lie in learning to love  oneself, and that includes being 'too' sensitive. In our society sensitivity is seen as and unreliable and weak. I would have to say, one could start off by having an 'Empath Pride' Day or something equally as educational, as I feel that we should celebrate feeling with each other, not shutting each other out.

Perhaps empathy has developed in reaction to how cut off we have become in society. We are bombarded with imagery and a life of more obvious callousness and violence and through the lack of real feeling, we desperately seek to connect with mankinds' soul.

I know and I hear of many empaths, who try to isolate because of the anxiety that results through interacting with others.  Personally, I would say with me, it's that some of my experiences with people and anxiety could be due to a biological piece of the puzzle, with anxiety intensifying and augmenting symptoms( emotion ), and for others, if they are not centered, this can intensify into a type of social anxiety. Strangely enough, once this anxiety is mastered, empathy becomes a blessing, not a curse!

The more sensitive I become, the more I am apt to jump to conclusions about others... This is in total contrast to what I am really feeling from them emotionally. This goes back to the 'bounce back effect', or the effect of amplifying other's emotions into one's own vision or version of them.

I would say to those who suffer extreme anxiety as an empath  - there are ways I have learnt to cope. I have learnt to embrace it as a really great part of myself that celebrates caring for people and I never give up that there are loving souls like me out there.

 I have chosen to discard the notion that to feel is bad – if society has put that out there, it's up to me to reject it. I reject not feeling sadness – I reject not feeling anger – I welcome happiness too!  I will brace for any other pain there is, as long as I can still feel the joy in myself, as in others.

Why block out beauty? Emotions come with the good and the bad. I would want to feel something, rather than nothing. I will learn to manage my perceptions of those people whose energy I feel around me.

Interesting article about Mind Reading and it's existence in Octobers Psychology Today:
http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20070830-000002.xml

Copyright Carmen Miro 2007