Who am I

It is best to get the big details down right away. I am in my late 20's, male, and living in Wisconsin. Ive been here just shy of 2 years and I was born and lived in New England. I'm open minded and not prejudice. I am empathic and that influences my life a great deal. It has shaped how I feel and act in social interactions and actively influences my choices in life. It has felt like a curse more often then a blessing.

For those unaware of the difference in someone feeling empathy for someone else and being empathic I will briefly explain. The be empathetic to someone else s feelings or situation for most people means you understand what they are feeling or experiencing due to your own experience of similar emotions or happenings. To be empathic is to feel their emotions as they feel them, whether you interpret them the same, give those emotions the same name or not, you feel what they feel. Its works differently for different people. Some feel others emotions from just being around them, some through touch, and others only when in emotionally heightened circumstances.

Personally it depends on those i'm around. Most of the time I can control it, block it out, or I can open up to it. With some people that are depressed, or angry, or mean spirited/evil I pick up on it very easily, as with those in pain, just by being in the same room. I cant help but feel as if it brings me down, so i become quiet and withdrawn. Others such as those who are happy, easy going, goofy and playful; I cannot help but be silly and talkative, with a embarrassingly stupid smile on my face. These kinds of people bring out the best in me.

When it comes to touch, this is where differs from something that could be just a heightened perception of people and that of being truly empathic. When I touch or am touched by someone, a link tends to be made, and it varies in strength depending on the individual. When it comes to those outgoing open minded people who are emotional beings in tune with themselves, it tends to be quite strong. A few times ive experienced almost a their full lifetimes worth of feelings, both good and bad, in waves over 10's of seconds to minutes. This can happen as a flowing path or in mixed surges where it is hard to distinguish individual emotions from one another. I've experienced very painful lives as if i lived them as well. I still know that pain and I carry it as a burden to this day.

I hope this sheds some light on who I am and where my point of view comes from, and why I make the choices that I do.