31–37 of 37 posts
To me the most interesting part of this thread is the comment about someone explaining their own experience of being empathic. They describe their approach for handing it and that comment has been bouncing around karma wise for the last two hours. My interpretation of what they saying is maybe different. There are people who are naturally more prone to mirroring the feelings they perceive through words, actions, face…
As an empath, I have learned to observe, not absorb . Everyday life is filled with people in various states of pain, and it doesn't always have to be some obvious physical pain, they can show it just the way they speak and interact with the world, and through subtle body language. Not that I avoid those types of people like the plague, only a select few I try to listen to and try to make their journey as painless as…
I'm curious on what basis are you calling yourself an empath. I've never heard someone say this seriously and I'm trying not to be too judgemental.
As an empath, I have learned to observe, not absorb . Everyday life is filled with people in various states of pain, and it doesn't always have to be some obvious physical pain, they can show it just the way they speak and interact with the world, and through subtle body language. Not that I avoid those types of people like the plague, only a select few I try to listen to and try to make their journey as painless as…
I'm curious on what basis are you calling yourself an empath. I've never heard someone say this seriously and I'm trying not to be too judgemental.
Industrialization, urban development, crony-capitalism/corporatism, profit-motive (usually involving exploitation), greed, disconnection/breakdown of communities, and dare I say it, even technology (when misused), push people further and further away from one another.
How can you (the average person) be an empath when you have bills to pay and are locked to a 9-5 including a (usually anti-social) commute via car/bus/train/etc., spend the first 18-20 couple years of your life studying in a place that loads you in confined spaces with people who probably don't want to be there and teachers who don't get paid enough, and you most likely live in a place that you (or your parents) don't own; that probably doesn't have a proper yard (with no privacy), you get minimal sunlight/outdoor time, and your place of living probably has poor sound isolation between units if you (or your parents) rent something other than a house.
Socialization and time is measured and controlled in school and in the workplace, and when you have down-time, how can you worry about somebody who has problems that you probably can't solve because 1) they are not a part of your community, 2) you lack the time, resources, or ability to help, and 3) you have enough problems of your own to solve.
In school, sports, and in most workplaces, you're taught and conditioned to compete (outperform others). This is a sink-or-swim, fragmented, and cruel world for the average person.
You can't worry about John's debt, or Joe's medical problems that they can't get fixed because they can't afford it/don't have insurance. You can't help somebody with their house or yard.
So where does community usually reside nowadays? Only in very niche circles and activities, usually non-competitive hobbies. Definitely not the classroom or workplace, probably not your neighborhood/apartment complex, the bar, or most other common gathering spots for people.
People don't smile to strangers. Nobody waves. Sure, people ask you how you're doing if they're directly interacting with you through the course of business, but any answer other than "I'm doing good" is usually met with indifference.
Most self-proclaimed/actual empaths nowadays, are people with a rare personality type and/or they are people who are heavily traumatized and truly understand the depths of pain/suffering/loneliness/etc.
The fact that another commenter is interpreting the person you're responding to as joking/memeing, highlights just how rare/unheard of such a way of being is to fathom in the modern world. And developing in such a way that you become an empath is indeed usually an anomaly/maladaptive for your own "success" in the grand scheme of things.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Some feelings can be controlled by appropriate action. For instance if you experience fear because you don't know how something may end. You may start doing research on it and explore different outcomes. Often turns out that these outcomes aren't actually bad and such information makes fear disappear in an instant.
You should become a therapist dude, I didn't know it was that easy! Next up: homeless people should just start doing research on the property market and buy a house.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Did you forget to add /s? A person with severe PTSD would greatly benefit from being left alone in the wilderness. How come therapists didn’t think of that? Probably another Big Pharma conspiracy. /s
the point of the above comment is that it's often beneficial to take a solo trip, rather than to take the trip with someone who wants to "guide" or "control" the subject through a certain kind of crafted experience you're focusing on the particular means of the solo experience, which misses the point
Do not go on an unguided trip if you have no experience and have mental issues. It could help you or could traumatize you severely. Psychedelics must be taken very seriously - advising to just take them and hope for the best is dangerously foolish.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
the point of the above comment is that it's often beneficial to take a solo trip, rather than to take the trip with someone who wants to "guide" or "control" the subject through a certain kind of crafted experience you're focusing on the particular means of the solo experience, which misses the point
Got it! If by “wilderness” they meant an unguided psychedelic trip then my advice would be similar to what I said earlier. Do not go on an unguided trip if you have no experience and have mental issues. It could help you or could traumatize you severely. Psychedelics must be taken very seriously - advising to just take them and hope for the best is dangerously foolish.