I normally don’t write one of these on Fridays, because of my weekly outfit recap and gratitude, but this one was something I felt so strongly about, I just HAD to.

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A blessing and a curse.

I’ve been hearing this phrase quite a lot lately. I’ve been hearing it a lot around the podcast episodes I’ve been listening to recently. They have been talking about empathy and sensitivity. I’m currently listening to the latest episode of Andra Zaharia’s (LinkedIn) “Cyber Empathy”, and her guest Joshua Corman is sharing insights into his past that helped define who he is today. He has used this phrase a few times to talk about empathy. His story has been so touching and even heartbreaking, that I haven’t even finished listening to the episode yet. I literally stopped and dropped everything to start writing this.

A blessing and a curse.

A dual-edged sword.

So much truth.

I’m sure it would surprise absolutely no one when I say that I am highly empathic, and highly sensitive. I feel the pain of the world, and those around me. Someone around me I don’t even know could be visibly angry or upset, and I’ll immediately start picking up and feeding off of the energy. Even something seemingly silly like seeing someone get hurt on tv, and I can feel the pain.

Even though I feel so much, it is extremely difficult for me to express and offload that pain. I lock it up, and keep it tucked away. I rarely share or confide in others, not wanting to saddle them with my struggles, be accused of being overdramatic or “me too” to garner sympathy, or be seen as weak. I’ll choose to suffer in silence.

A blessing and a curse.

It also helps to give me passion about something I take an interest in. That could be something like fashion, where it has literally changed my life and opened up this whole beautiful world that I never knew existed. It could also be something wrong that needs to be addressed or fixed, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. I never know what is going to have an effect on me each day.

Yep, it truly is a blessing and a curse.