Empathy

Empathy and passion.  For better or worse, these are two of my strongest traits.

When an event occurs in someone's life, it's as if their heart molds with mine.  I literally feel for that person.  Miscarriages (sadly) and new babies (especially) tend to get me all fired up and prayerful as of late. 

If a rotten thing happens to someone I love, or even barely know, I can become nearly sick over it.  In fact, the Olympics wear me out.  I'm so full of joy and pride on behalf of whomever wins, but at the same time, I just feel awful for the 2nd through last place finishers.

Tonight, I just kept saying over and over, "poor Patriots.  That's so frustrating.  They must feel awful." etc.  I was cheering for (and ecstatic for) the Giants!  So why the concern with the Patriots?  Empathy.

When Christopher Hitchens (a grumpy, witty, atheist guy with a great British accent and a huge ego) found out he was terminally ill, I got a stomach ache.  Just thinking about the suddenly-sped-up-closer-to-now encounter with God made me shudder for him.  The day he died, the same sick feeling settled in my stomach.

So, having said that, it's been a passionate, empathetic weekend, and I'm exhausted.  I don't feel like going into details now, but I definitely FEEL.  

This is a picture from when I was 4.5 mos. pregnant.  I sat in the bathroom and laughed and cried for no reason that either of us could discern for 25 minutes.  While empathy is different than hormonal mood swings, the end result frequently looks the same, and this picture is kind of how I feel right now, but a tad less smiley.  And not in maternity pajamas.