Overwhelm, being multi-passionate and an empath.
All things I felt for a very long time, yet for a similar stretch of time, never really admitted.
The thing I never wanted to embrace, because this was the reason of never feeling that I “fitted in” and believing that this was why I felt weird and different.
Here’s the story, in the hope that by letting my stories flow from deep within, it’ll help others from being stuck so long. At the same time I gain more understanding about what makes “me” – ALL of me …. – the good, bad and the ugly- the weird, the wacky and the wonderful.
Perhaps you can relate, maybe you can see some bits of you in my story too and it will help you on your path.
Now that I have learned to put all the dots together, it’s easy (easier)
This is my view on the positive versus the negative of being a multi-passionate as well as an empath.
Multi-passionates /multi-potentialites are called so many different things – some descriptions are friendlier than others.
I love the one my grandfather used. He called us millipedes *)
Growing up I saw him be a keen gardener, always in his vege-garden and looking after his chickens. Painting the house, the shed, the garden furniture. I know he always used to have his own business in the city where we lived, he used to sell and fix bicycles and some cars too. When I visited grandma and him, he would build snowmen with me in winter and take me out skating. In summer we would go for walks around where he lived and visit the nearby farms to see the newborn piglets and calves and all that. He knew about many things and he was always curious.
His special place, his sanctuary, was a little shed in the back yard. My Grandma never entered that space, but I was allowed in. He fixed all kinds of things on his workbench and also worked on his art and craft projects in there. He loved woodcarving and wood inlay art. Natural things were always his favorite and I think that my love for working with wood comes from him.
I remember asking him one day about being able to do many things.
About being creative and liking so many different things. He said that was fine, we were *) the millipedes with many sets of hands for various tasks. Told me to be happy with that, because there were others that could not even do one single creative thing. Be happy and celebrate it!
….. as I grew up and started listening to other well-meaning voices, I forgot about this talk and his encouraging and positive words for a long time …..
There are other positive, friendly ways, to describe multi-passionates: Renaissance souls, multi-potentialites, multi-disciplinaries. Then there are the less nicely, derogatory words like: jack-of-all-trades, master of none; scanners; scatter brains.
Most multi-passionates are also very creative.
Which is in it’s turn often labeled to be anything-but career worthy. Therefor growing up as a creative I felt less worthy somehow. Always questioning myself. Why could I not feel content pursuing a “normal” job and career like everybody else? Why was it always so busy in my mind, was this only happening for me? Nobody understood me really and I never fitted in either. Even if I tried very hard from time to time.
Yet, I somehow did understand other people easily. I could feel their feelings, their emotions and energies. What was that about?
Some time later, I learned about Empaths and a highly sensitive persons. Someone who can “read” people’s energy really well. I read: – .. an empath is attuned to the frequencies of others and very often struggles to distinguish between their own vibrations and emotions and the emotions of others. Empaths who are not aware of their ability or do not know how to handle it may take on more than they deserve. –
While I was reading that, I remembered that my mother would tell me not to take the world’s problems on my shoulders, because I could not solve them all by myself. So it had always been there, just not understood, embraced and accepted fully. I was taught to be a tough, strong Dutch girl growing up. (we saved our emotions for the hard times.)
I know now that you can be an empath AND be strong at the same time.
Being sensitive to the energies around can show itself in regular mood swings. Your own emotions as well as feeling other people’s hurt and pain as your own can leave you feeling overwhelmed. It is as if you are a sponge, soaking it all up. You often avoid conflicts, misunderstandings, difficult situations, rejections etc. (you avoid being hurt)
A lot of empaths don’t even know that they are doing this, because it comes natural to feel on a deep level. Empaths often think that everyone feels the same and are surprised that not everybody reacts in a similar way. When they find this out some try to hide it or numb it rather than embrace and celebrate this gift.
Diving deep and learning more about pieces that make up who I am, helps me understand and value things I hid away and took for granted. Things I felt ashamed of, because it made me different from everybody else. It brings perspective to the various qualities we all have and that it is a beautiful thing. It is a continuing process, every time there is a little more to find out and understand. There is always a next layer to be revealed. It’s an adventure on it’s own.
Learning about the mind, our mindset and what makes us tick is pretty interesting. Finding out about the gifts that have always been around in people, but that perhaps are no longer celebrated to their proper value in today’s society. I feel it is time for us to embrace slower living. Connecting to those things that make up ALL the aspects of our beings. I am deeply enjoying the things I discover and understanding myself more and more. It helps with goals and how to bring Dreams into reality. How to focus and how to balance life and work while staying true to yourself. An exciting adventure and it makes me proud to be a multi-passionate empath 
Do you resonate with any of this and do you need support to thrive as a highly sensitive / empathic entrepreneur?
xoxo
