Dear world,

Have you heard of us? We are empaths. You probably know some of us. We are your friends, neighbors, loved ones, acquaintances. Perhaps even the person standing in line behind you at the grocery store.

We are called empaths because we are highly attuned to the world around us. Even the things that go unsaid and unseen. We experience it all deeply.
We care. We feel. We intuit.

We can feel what the people around us feel. Yes, even you. Sometimes even before you know how you feel.
We hear the words you can’t say.
We feel the emotions you try to escape.
Sometimes we feel your pain physically in our bodies.
Or in our hearts.

We compulsively fall into the “fixing trap.”
We want to cure you. We want to rescue you. We’ll do anything to make you feel better.

Those mood swings?
Taking on others’ suffering and pain can make us feel extremely sad or tired. 
We absorb your pain—and release you to feel better.

We’ve been told that we’re too sensitive and weak. That we have to toughen up.
We grew up believing that something was “off” with us.
The truth is that we are not weird, and we are not alone.
Many people like us are out there caring deeply, empathizing freely, and experiencing the world in vivid color.

We are a gift to the world.
What we contribute is helpful and important. We bring sensitivity, deep caring, creativity, imagination, intuition, and empathy to others.

Our spiritual lesson is to connect deeply and be of service without taking on others’ emotions as our own.
We have to learn boundaries.
We must balance giving with receiving.

Our life lesson journey is to give you compassion while taking care of our own hearts first.
To bring as much kindness, compassion, and love to ourselves as we bring to you.

We are committed to learning our lessons.
To thriving as empowered empaths.

We grow every day.
We are learning to feel with you and not for you.
We are learning to be present for others without allowing their darkness to turn off our light.
We are learning to care more by caring less. To detach. To be less invested emotionally.
We are learning which feelings are ours and which feelings belong to others.
We are learning to take things less personally. To shed. To let go.

We are healing.
We carry a lot of traumas from all the suffering we have taken on over the years.
We are brave enough to feel the pain and heal the trauma so that we can move our lives forward.

It is our birthright to live as the sensitive, intuitive, creative, caring, kind, loving people we are, enjoying life and feeling free, lighthearted, and at peace.

We make mistakes, fall, fail, rise, shine, fall again and rise again.

All the while learning to live as the beacons, the sources of light we were born to be.

We are beacons of change.