The Gifts & Challenges of Being an Empath

For my fellow empaths, this post is for you. I came across this beautiful explanation of what it feels like to be an empath, both the gifts and challenges, written by Emily Solberg (@showerarguments) and felt called to share it with you: 💜

The hardest part about being an empath is discovering that not everyone else is like you.

Not everyone feels things as deeply and cares as much as you do.

Not everyone has the same intuition or introspection.

Not everyone sees the world in a dizzying array of grays, instead of black and white.

Not everyone has the ability to put themselves in others’ shoes and feel the intensity of others’ pain.

Not everyone is able to go as deep.

Not everyone is willing to try.

And it's hard not to be disappointed when other people won’t meet you where you are. With those people, you’ll always have to keep it surface-level to be able to communicate or connect. You have to bob around like a buoy in their comfort zone, when really, you’d much rather dive into your authentic selves.

That’s why the greatest, most fulfilling relationships are with other empaths—the ones who will hoist on their oxygen tanks and dive beneath the waves with you.

The ones who will go there.

The ones who understand that the root of true human connection is a willingness to be vulnerable, and to share the deepest parts of yourself, even if they’re messy and raw and unfiltered.

That’s why it’s so hard to be an empath.

But that’s why it’s also the best to be an empath.

Because not everyone is like you,

But when you find the few others that are—

You know you’re safe.

You know you’re loved.

And you know that if you accomplish nothing else in your life, you will always have the gift of being truly SEEN by another person on this planet.

And really, how beautiful is that?