The Side effects of being an Empath

(this image is of Marco Island, Florida, where I spent a week with my parents in March to heal....)

I have intimated before on this blog that I am a healer and an empath, among other talents. I have been known to take pain and suffering from those around me, to take it on myself, and relieve them of its burden. I have also seen illnesses in others, with a particular affinity for detecting lung cancer.

I had spent this past weekend reading about Hildegard of Bingen, fully intending this next post to focus on her and her migraines and resultant visions.

Then I got sick.

This should not have surprised me.

I should have been expecting it.

After all, Monte, our poodle, who had been so desperately ill last week, is back to his old self again, as I wrote about here.

I spent so much healing energy on Monte last week - gladly, willingly, unquestioningly - that the result was my own ill health.

This is the curse of being an empath.

Every talent has a price. The price of empathy is that my own body absorbs the negative, ill energies from those I try to heal.

Interestingly enough, all of the analyses I have read about the various astrological signs say similar things about Pisces: we are the most highly developed psychic signs, tend to be intuitive, passionate, and artistic/creative, and often suffer from serious health issues.

These traits are not coincidence.

Think about it.

From a scientific perspective, if energy is conserved in the universe, then it must always be transferred somewhere else.

So, if an empath takes negative energy from someone, replacing it with positive energy, where does the negative energy go? Straight into the body of the empath.

My body is a mess.

I suffer from a dozen different difficulties that someone of my age should not yet know. My theory is that it is the result of an accumulation of all that negative energy taken on during the healing process.

One source I use, The Secret Language of Birthdays, says of those born on my date that "Because those born in this week are generally open, accepting, sensitive individuals, their receptivity is high. Consequently, more than most, they can be prone to accidents and disease, as well as to positive experiences of learning and sensuous stimulation. It seems that Pisces II's are fated to live fully in the peaks and valleys of life."

I have gradually begun to figure out the connections between my abilities and my personal difficulties. I now see the cause and effect links.

And as I lay ill in my bed this week, I wondered what I could or should do about it.

The answer, of course, lay right on the foot of the bed with me: a healthy Monte. For my side effects of healing are far less severe than the symptoms I ease in others.

It seems a very small price to pay to share comfort with others.

So, I will continue to get my bi-monthly massages, engage in movement (especially YogaDance), and generally treat myself with care after an empathic encounter. And when I fall ill, I will allow myself to rest and regenerate. Oh, and a little Dairy Queen ice cream never hurts, either.

Such is the cycle of life.

Oh, and keep watching for that post on Hildegard. It's coming. I promise.