It's been a while since I have been on here. I've been growing a lot as an empath. So I wanted to share/ hear the thoughts of others on this.

So I have come to understand how grounding works for me. I was so confused at first because I just assumed that grounding was supposed to solve all my problems. Lol. But I think what I really thought was that grounding would stop me from picking up energies. It in fact just gets rid of the old while at the same time opening me up to more energies.

This was a tough pill to swallow. At first for a while I was like what is the f@#$ing point. 

Now I understand. No matter what I am now and always will be an empath. It just literally how I am built as a person. There is no cure, no relief there is only learning to accept it and how to live a full life knowing what I know.

So recently I had a terrible experience with someone I thought could be a good friend. She blamed me, or my energy for being the reason we could not get to where we where going. This hurt like hell, but I had also begun to understand that there are projective and receptive qualities to being an empath. Some of us can only do one or the other, but there are those who can do both.

I can do both. 

So that day that she was blaming for went like this. Before I got to her I was stuck on a train filled with irritation. There was a problem with the train and a lot of people were upset about. Then while I was in the car with her the area that we were in was filled with people with a variety of different emotions. There was some type of sporting event going on. Now I could feel all of this. Because by that point I had gotten pretty good at understanding the energy flowing through me. And I had kinda started to suspect that it was being projected outward but wasn't sure yet.

So this person is a part of a religion (I wont say which one because she is not an example of how this group is). I was interested in learning more about it. She got upset because I didn't want to join. I could feel her anger. This the point when she blamed my energy.

Now I laugh but then I was hurt. Because she claimed she understood what I am but then told me I must have some evil spirit on me.

Wow.

I do not. What was happening was that I had not grounded out old energy that I had picked. The energy we pick up from others does have an effect our lives. Doesn't mean there is a spirit cursing us. 

In fact I have come to believe that everything is energy. And it can be painful to have so many energies pass through us if we keep ourselves open and allow the energy to pass through almost can harm us.

I'm going to stop here just because some of this is hard to put into words. Curious to know what others think about these things.

Particularly about the concept of being receptive/projective.

'empaths and emotional telepathy' post has some interesting data.

I can do both ops magus calls it PUSH and PULL Also I can reflect but still working on phasing and Grounding. My inspiration Teal Swan believes that shielding goes contrary to our ability and that if you perceive that you need to protect yourself against something then you are 'creating' the thing you perceive you need to protect yourself against.

If we all wore T shirts with I AM AN EMPATH written on them.

All people would see was the razor sharp sword that we truly are, and fear us. So we must hide in the shadows behind myth and disbelief waiting patiently for the rest of the world to catch up. Sure wish it would hurry up sometimes.

Thank you for sharing the journey with us @crystalsage it has been a long one, but in moments like this when reading your post, a slightly less lonely one.

Hugs Matthew 

@crystalsage :

I have two thoughts for you on this. The 1st is that most of us can't self-ground at a moment's notice. Similar to your train situation, I have to drive home through a lot of traffic from work each day and quite often am wound up from my own stress plus from picking up energy from other drivers on the way home. Eventhough I am feeling reasonably balanced when I get to my destination I get funny looks from people. I had a guy at the grocery store after work say to me the other day "It's okay man, it can't be that bad". And my wife tells me it's like fire coming off of me when I get home. I usually don't feel that upset, but I do understand it's the energy thing and it must be pouring off of me. I usually need 15-20 minutes alone when I get home to ground, rebalance, and shake off some of what I picked up. So I think in your case it is completely normal as an empath to feel or be like that after travel.

Secondly, you also have to remember that empaths are mirrors to the soul for other people. Some people will like that and your healing energy and gravitate to you. While others will act like they have a burr under their saddle when you are around. They will be agitated, rude, disrespectful, and even down right mean to you. It's because you mirror back to them and make them feel very insecure. And that's actually part of our talents. We're supposed to help people pull off their masks and deal with their deep down deficiencies, insecurities, and wrong doing and find their life path. But a lot of people can't handle that, and they lash out at us. In some cases you'll meet someone and they'll love you one day and hate you the next.

So long story short, I think you are experiencing a little of both of the above going on with this person. I would just say don't ever quit being you. And if you have the ability to do so, try to have thicker skin as these types of people will appear from time to time. They're not ready to face the worst in themselves to improve and you being you highlight that for them just by being in the area. 

And last but not least, if I could sum up all I have learned about empaths in a sentence I would say: "Everything Is Energy" It's just like you said. As you journey through life each day you take in and analyze energy, and you put off energy signatures reflecting your own mood plus the energy from the people and places that you visit.

@matthew-elsey

I had someone more experienced than me years ago at this community tell me that it is wrong for an empath to shield as it goes against our purpose and mutes our abilities. At the time it made no sense as I was a young empath dealing with outside energy overload and constant panic attacks. I just wanted to shut it all off and rest. But I do get it now. If you figure out how to shut off your ability to draw in and analyze/clean energy, then you are shutting off your purpose, your nature. I would only say that empaths need a break and need to shut it down every once in a while.

And @crystalsage I just remembered one more thing. When I am out of balance with pent up energy, my empath and psychic abilities go on blast. I wasn't sure if this was unique to me, but it sounds like maybe you are experiencing the same. My point is that had you not been on that train and instead showed up balanced and grounded, you two very likely would have gotten along just fine. But instead post-train ride I think you showed up off-balance and had your empath abilities turned on high. She already wasn't happy that you wouldn't join her religion. And that plus the strong mirror of her soul was too much for her to take and she basically insulted and rejected you. None of this is your fault. In fact, this was probably a very important life lesson for you to better understand how this all works. I would say that this person has issues, and you are better off not getting involved with a person like that as they can often be a draining roller coaster ride.

One other general empath note that I've noticed about myself and my two empath kids. And that is that almost everyone wants to be our friends. I think our energy is quite strong and generally is soothing and it attracts people. Some people call it the shine. And some people want to trap and control you and what makes you special to their own advantage. My advice is that you have to be a bit leery of new people and what their intentions are.

@hopdaddy I agree with you I actually haven't talked to her since. 

I was very open with her about being an empath because she said she knew about all of these things. It was funny when she didn't realize what was happening. 

The tip of the ice berg was when we went to the mountains. All the energy I had picked up was instantly released. I felt a lot better. But then I could feel her more clearly. She just simply doesn't understand what I am. In fact she's convinced I have a "target on my back." I knew there was nothing I could say to get her to understand so I just stopped. I was polite and when it was time to go I left. 

@crystalsage :

I know you didn't want to say what religion. But it kind of sounds like some sort of new age religion or Wicca. If I'm wrong then no worries because this still applies. I find that quite a few people in leadership in those beliefs/religions are wanna-bes. They badly want to have psychic or what they hope to be magical abilities. And they become experts on spiritual things so that everyone looks up to them as special and learned. And then along comes you with actual abilities and she's instantly threatened. Not to mentioned you mirroring her soul back at her. I find this a lot as there are a lot of people pretending to be special or something that they are not in this life. Faking it along the way, and fooling many people. But they won't fool you. And that's why deep down you decided something was off and you didn't want to get involved. And good for you. Always follow your intuition, your gut. I've made some of my best decisions doing so, and some of my worst not following what my gut told me about a person or situation.

And you may already know this, but places of nature are very good grounding places for empaths. Mountains, beaches, forests. So it was no coincidence that you purged your low energy once you hit the mountains.