Rita's Reflections: Following the empath's path
Dr. Morgan is a wise young woman. She said taking on this column was a quantum leap. Quantum or not, it was the influence of three vastly different people who made me want to take any kind of leap. One is a narcissist. One is funny. One is filled with light.
Since I prefer honesty over evasiveness, now seems the time to make a confession — I am a highly intuitive and highly functioning empath. The most difficult thing about being an empath is absorbing the energy of everyone around me. I can read people’s true intentions. I can spot a liar a mile away. I can sometimes feel a fall before it hits. Some days it’s a lot to deal with.
Empaths have a unique perspective. We are supposed to feel “gifted” and “special.” Most of the time, I feel about as special as a three-legged goat with a third eye. Then again, I embrace the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi. I see and appreciate the beauty in the obvious imperfections in nature. Beauty truly is in the eye(s) of the beholder.
Dr. Morgan has been very supportive and a big part of my journey. I adore her. She compared the recent changes in me to an emerging butterfly. I love that analogy. There is usually more to all of us than meets the eye if we look hard enough. Or if we care to stick around long enough to see the hidden beauty.
I am well aware that looks can be deceiving. Despite looking healthy and fit, I have felt anything but over the years. My health kept taking hit after hit with no explanation. Dr. Chartier described me as a puzzle solver. I’ve had to be to function in a world that moves too slow for me. Dr. Morgan said I operate on a higher frequency. On most days, I run circles around everybody in my circle. Someone said I make getting things done look easy. Honestly, some days, I feel like “Wonder Woman” without the height, beauty or paycheck. I laugh when people say they are so busy. I challenge anybody to do what I do.
Empaths are a mystery. We baffle and confuse the medical community because we don’t fit into a “normal” mold. Ask Larry, I’ve never been normal and I guarantee life with me would be boring if I was. I want to rope the wind and ride a cloud. Hang on to me or set me free.
A health scare served as my wake-up call. I decided to roll the dice and put my faith in three of my favorite people. Two have had my back since the day I met them. The other one has always needed a little more persuasion to see things from my unique perspective.
What affects Larry negatively, affects me. If I am absorbing his negativity and my own, it feels much like Dr. Morgan described: like a champagne cork under pressure and ready to pop.
Because of this, Larry and I have been forced to lie low. It has been difficult for us to come to terms that much of my health issues could have been avoided decades ago if things had been addressed much sooner. It isn’t a good feeling knowing your spouse and those around you can literally make you feel unwell. I can avoid most things. I don’t want to avoid Larry. He's always been my lifeline.
I’ll be frank. If you are not an open-minded person, reading my columns may be a waste of your time. Ignorance isn’t bliss. It’s just ignorance. We should never fear what we don’t know or understand. It is always better to be innocently ignorant than blatantly stupid. Even Forrest Gump knows, “Stupid is as stupid does.”
Rita Zorn is a wife, mother, grandmother and lifetime Monroe County resident. She can be reached at 7.noniez@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Rita Zorn: Following the empath's path
