Soul Kadee

A few days ago, Lynn Claridge, author of the ebook, “Understanding Your Psychic Ability,” sent me this beautiful story by Doris Stickney. I share it here with her permission.

Down below the surface of a quiet pond lived a little colony of water bugs. They were a happy colony, living far away from the sun.

For many months they were very busy, scurrying over the soft mud on the bottom of the pond.

They did notice that every once in a while one of their colony seemed to lose interest in going about with its friends. Clinging to the stem of a pond lily, it gradually moved out of sight and was seen no more.

“Look” said one of the water bugs to another. One of our colony is climbing up the lily stalk. Where do you suppose she is going?

Up, up, up it went slowly. Even as they watched, the water bug disappeared from sight. Its friends waited and waited but it didn’t return.

“That’s funny”! Said one water bug to another.

“Wasn’t she happy here? Asked a second water bug.

“Where do you suppose she went?” wondered a third.

No one had an answer. They were greatly puzzled.

Finally one of the water bugs, a leader in the colony, gathered its friends together “I have an idea. The next one of us who climbs up the lily stalk must promise to come back and tell us where he or she went and why.”

“We promise to”, they said solemnly.

One spring day not long after, the very water bug who had suggested theplan found him self climbing up the lily stalk. Up, up, up he went.

Before he knew what was happening, he had broken through the surface of the water, and fallen onto the broad green lily pad above.

When he awoke he looked about with surprise. He couldn’t believe what he saw. A starling change had come to his old body. His movement revealed four silver wings and a long tail.

Even as he struggled he felt an impulse to move his wings. The warmth of the sun soon dried the moisture from the new body. He moved his wings again and suddenly found himself up above the water. He had become a dragonfly.

Swooping and dipping in great curves he flew through the air. He felt exhilarated in the new atmosphere.

By and by the new dragonfly lighted happily on a lily pad to rest. Then it was by chance he looked below to the bottom of the pond.

Why he was right above his old friends the water bugs! There they were, scurrying about, just as he had been doing some time before.

Then the dragonfly remembered the promise: “The next one of us who climbs up the lily stalk will come back and tell where he or she went and why.

Without thinking the dragonfly darted to reach the bottom. Suddenly he hit the surface of the water and bounced away. Now that he was a dragonfly, hecould no longer go into the water.

“I can’t return!” he said in dismay. “At least I tried but I can’t keep my promise. Even if I could go back not one of the water bugs would know me in my new body. I guess I will just have to wait until they become dragonflies too. Then they will understand what happened to me and where I went.”

The dragonfly winged off happily into its wonderful new world of sun and air.

Popularity: 2% [?]

I never really liked Deanna Troi, the empath in Star Trek, but I just discovered that I have more in common with her than I thought. I scored 100% on this sensitivity quiz that told me I’m a natural born empath.

Not that I was surprised by the discovery. I’ve always known I was extremely sensitive. My mom comes from a family of highly sensitive people that my Dad politely describes as “high-strung.”

But now I have a word to describe that uncomfortable feeling of being “different.” And I know it’s not a disease, but a gift. And even though it comes at a high price, that realisation has made a whole bunch of things fall in place for me.

The word “empathy” derives from the Greek words “empatheia” meaning “passion” and “pathein” meaning “to experience, suffer”.

According to Miriam-Webster’s on-line dictionary - “Empathy is the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner.”

Most empaths are more attuned to emotions than thoughts. To be an emotional empath is to experience the emotions of others - the positive and negative - pain and suffering and as well as love and compassion.

As a child I knew I had difficulty disconnecting from the emotions of people, even if they were only fictional characters who inhabited the world of movies and books.

When I was in school, I would cry if one of my siblings got hurt. As a mom, I shed tears every time my tiny, colicky daughter screamed in pain, when gas bloated her little belly.

I can sob uncontrollably when I see or hear about an act of cruelty, as I did when I read about the horrible woman who brutalised and tortured a 10-year old girl to death. I could almost feel the pain the poor, helpless child suffered before she died.

It made me sick to my stomach. I simply cannot comprehend the mindset of people like that. Especially since the perpetrator had three daughters of her own.

I guess being an empath is what accounts for my acute sensitivity to negative thoughts, negative people, bad news, and even depression. But at least I know I’m not alone in feeling this way. As the article here notes:

Empaths are sensitive to TV, videos, movies, news and broadcasts. Violence or emotional dramas depicting shocking scenes of physical or emotional pain inflicted on adults, children or animals can bring an empath easily to tears. At times, they may feel physically ill or choke back the tears. Some empaths will struggle to comprehend any such cruelty, and will have grave difficulty in expressing themselves in the face of another’s ignorance, closed-mindedness and obvious lack of compassion. They simply cannot justify the suffering they feel and see.

But empathy also gives me the ability to connect to people, the compassion to see things from their point of view, and ability to build rapport almost instantly, traits that have served me well in my personal and professional life.

It accounts for my natural desire to nurture people around me, be a healer and caregiver, and for my interest in healing arts like Reiki and Tai Chi.

It also gives me the ability to be open and share my experiences on this blog, show spontaneous warmth and affection to people I barely know, express my creativity in writing and music, love animals, Nature, and cherish my space and solitude (sometimes to the point of becoming a recluse).

As most empaths know, the gift can be a double-edged sword. We can get so swept up in the emotions of others that we lose sight of our own boundaries, and forget to care for our own needs. Although we may have many friends, we tend to form “close” friendships only with people we feel safe with.

But knowing the truth of who you are can be very empowering, if a little scary. At least I know there are ways to deal with the downside of being an empath.

Regular meditation has helped me get centered, ground my energy, and get in touch with my inner self. And there are always ways I can protect myself from being overwhelmed by other people’s energy. My energy healer friends have been teaching me these techniques for a while now.

If you’re an empath or have special abilities, do share your experience here. I’d love to hear from you. But then you already knew that, didn’t you?

Resources:

Empowered by Empathy : 25 Ways to Fly in Spirit

The Universal Empath 101

On Being a Natural Empath

Recognizing Empathy in Yourself

The Empath: The Fourth Chakra Dominant Individual

Essential Practices For Empaths

The Highly Sensitive Person’s Survival Guide: Essential Skills for Living Well in an Overstimulating World

The Highly Sensitive Person in Love : Understanding and Managing Relationships When the World Overwhelms You

The Highly Sensitive Child : Helping Our Children Thrive When the World Overwhelms Them

The Highly Sensitive People website

Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight : What to Do If You Are Sensory Defensive in an Overstimulating World

Becoming an Empath (Audio CD)

Popularity: 2% [?]