This is Me
I read the news, from the shallow section (entertainment, celebrity gossip) out (world news, devastation, sadness) to insulate myself and set up the emotional boundaries necessary for me, as an empath, to not absorb all that is awful and would crush me.
People who are not empaths, do not understand that I feel the feelings of others as though they are happening to me. That crosses over to media too (movies, TV, etc.…)
It can sometimes be a very lonely world for me, as I need to protect my being from the onslaught of humanity acting inhumanely. This usually translates into long periods of “Hermit Status”. I’m okay with it, but others are not. They feel I am hurting their feelings by not letting them “in”. Sometimes, I just can’t.
We must be who we are. I have a few friends, who have read each of my Substack pieces and also responded in the comment section. This helps establish me as a “real” writer in the writing/publishing world. Then, I have a lot of friends, who haven’t read one piece that I have written. That kind of hurts. All you have to do is “click” on it, open it for a minute and not even read it if you don’t want to. (Although I wish you would)
I have contributed to fundraisers, cheered people on in their posts, and read with enthusiasm about their lovely lives, with their lovely husbands and their lovely children…but they can’t find the time to read about mine. I don’t understand. But, I imagine they feel the same about my “Hermit Status”.
Then, I have a few people, who have become friends, through virtue of us all being writers. How fortunate I feel to begin to get to know them through their work, and through their reading of mine. (One of those people is Holly who writes on Substack. Her site is: Release and Gather and it’s fabulous.
Today is a good day. I am alive, I am well, my daughter is beginning to feel better, my Honey is at work (where he loves to be), and I got a new follower on Twitter.
Your turn-write about your “Chapter 2”. What do you want to do next with/in your life? Dream big. I can’t wait to read about it! I love the stories of others.
Oh, Mary, I’m glad for the mention, but gladder still that your kindred spirit is traversing the digital space through your words. It’s difficult to feel so much--I get that completely! Go into hermit status when you need to.
So glad to be catching up on my reading during the early morning hours while the thunderstorm rolls though outside and my husband slumbers. Tis the best soundtrack for a Mary McKnight Musing!
Great pic!