Are You A Highly Sensitive, Empathic Energy Sponge?

I was inspired today to write about energy. As wise friend once shared, "Energy doesn't lie." This is a mixed blessing for those of us who pick up on energy everywhere we go, sensing it, feeling it, even being assaulted by it sometimes.

I've been a highly sensitive, empathic, energy sponge my entire life, and it has made my passage kind of bumpy.  As a child, I had no understanding of what was happening. I just "felt" things. It wasn't until I was an adult and gave birth to my second child, who is also highly sensitive, that I realized to help him, and myself, I needed some tools.

I learned to clear space, protect myself and others, strengthen my intuition, etc. I learned to shift the volume of energetic input. I learned to read energetic clues and signs. 

I had no choice. I couldn't stand seeing my son not be able to sleep for nights on end because the energy in his room was so intense. This experience opened my eyes to many other ways that the energy around me was affecting my life. I began to pay attention and take it more seriously. 

Because I discovered, what we cannot see can indeed hurt us.

It was rough going. It's not easy moving through the world knowing that you're picking up on energy wherever you go. It's A LOT to take in and it can be exhausting. If you're a highly sensitive, empathic energy sponge, you know exactly what I mean. Some people deal with the intensity of the input by becoming reclusive. Some use food or alcohol to numb themselves. I did all of that and more. But ultimately those things are only temporary bandages with unpleasant side effects. Also, unbeknownst to many people, alcohol is a door opener to negative energy.

Better to cultivate some good tools and good, safe practices that work and that last. There are techniques to zip up your energy centers, visualizations to put oneself in a protective bubble, invocations to ask for angelic help, prayers for protection and clearing and so on. They work. I've used them for years. However, when I first began using them a dozen years ago to help my son sleep, I'd never used tools like that before. I was really skeptical, and even after trying them, I was doubtful they'd work because it didn't feel as though I was doing anything. But when my son said he had a really good sleep after my first attempt at clearing, it inspired me to push through my doubts and trust.

Oh my God, what a learning curve it's been!

Kind of a crash course in the shadow side of the spiritual path--something I probably wouldn't have sought out voluntarily. I'm grateful now,  as the years of regular practice have given me some fluency in the language of energy and an ever-expanding toolbox full of tools--smudging with sage, epsom salt baths, protection using stones and gems, removing toxic energy by connecting with trees, etc. 

But lots of trial and error along the way...LOTS...and always more to learn! 

Life is duality in both the visible and invisible realms and it's good to know when your doors open and how/when to lock them tight when needed. In this case, ignorance is not bliss, but knowledge is power.