POEM The Empath's Lament ~ A Light Week
A poem for the big feelings of the holiday season + Coming Home is only on Thursday this week, 12pm EDT.
Dear Friends,
I’m contemplating offering a course this winter called, “The Art of Becoming More Sensitive In a Desensitized World.” Or, “The Story of My Life” :)
The inspiration has been all the reflection I’ve been doing about menopause and how insanely intense it is for women and how we hardly talk about it. I know…this is changing, thank goddess. It cannot be that we continue to suffer in silence.
But, my life-long sensitivity has little to do with hormones. I’m an empath. I come by it naturally—my maternal line. But, it’s also a case of the “wounded healer.” I developed many of the gifts I have out of desperation; as a result of trauma, which sent me searching for ways to handle my extreme sensitivity in a desensitized world.
I found this snippet of a poem I wrote a year ago (below). When I re-read it, I thought it had some value…that there might be a few sensitive folks out there heading into intense family dynamics, travel, the darkness of winter, and the opening of the end-of-the-year holiday portal. I offer it in a pretty raw form. May it be a support. Know you are not alone. And let me know if you’d like to join a course with other sensitive beings looking to harness, understand, train and refine our sensitivities. Subtle sensing is one of the skills we need to return to—which requires swimming counter culture. Join us for a salmon run! It makes life easier to do this together.
This week, I will only be offering Coming Home meditation on Thursday (skipping Tues and Wed). Yes, I know it’s Thanksgiving. I want to dedicate the 12pm ET session to gratitude and prayers for peace in the world. We will tune in, share, and sit together for an hour. I hope some of you can step away from your busyness to join.
Join me Thursday at Noon ET for a Thanksgiving meditation and prayer for peace.
The Empath’s Lament Almost everything has been harder than I expected it to be. To the untrained empath, life is a lot...sometimes, too much. Why feel more than you can take? Why have exquisite senses in an indifferent world? It doesn’t make sense! Of course, not to the mind. Emotions have little to do with logic. Don't compare. Don't blame what's out there. Turn that sensing inwards in order to see (with your inner eye) what is the gift-- and what is not yours; what is a symptom of pain from the past; of a nervous system on the edge... tensing tracing stuck and unmoving full of unprocessed information and unlearned learnings adrenaline phantom threats still alive and hurting still active and burning your own. your ancestors'. the world's. Polish the mirror and see... the gem that you are with a gift overlaid with protection, projection. Discernment is hidden beneath a heap of aversion. Resistance is futile for someone like you. Slowly you learn what helps soothe the system; protect it from extremity; turn base metals into gold. You recover the treasure by valuing your needs; building boundaries; retreating without leaving. You learn how to feel yourself and others, too-- and to know the difference moment to moment. Then, you can stop wishing it was easier, needing people to be happier, longing for escape. Then, you can rest in the comfort of knowing exactly how it feels to be almost anything. Now, you can start to see the situation clearly, to release what’s not yours to hold, to be fully present for others, to find support for your own healing. How? Listen to the only being more sensitive than you: Nature. Learn to rest. Stop being a martyr for the world's suffering which is endless. Stop seeing suffering as a problem or a shame; and just be easily in right proportion to the moment; in right relation to your gifts; a human being! With a fierce heart, strong boundaries, determination, self-love... ONE LOVE. This makes life easier. It makes relationships easier. It makes being here easier. Even a pleasure. An adventure. A gift. November 14, 2022 Schuyler Brown