I love this quote by Albert Camus. "In order to understand the world, (and oneself), one has to turn away from it on occasion."
I don't know about you, and I find that being an empath takes copious amounts of alone time to begin to know when I end and the world begins.
Growing up in South Africa I would constantly 'become' my environment, unknowingly to myself. My emotions and feelings would be a constant flow of high, low and all in between. I would just assume that all I felt then, was mine. I remember intuits would tell me -- you can feel everyone and you can pick up on everyone around you. I thought it strange then as I like the idea of it, yet never truly felt what they were saying. My experience was, in fact, the opposite.
What I was feeling was hard to decipher, so much so that I would end up feeling overwhelmed by it, and check out which resulted in my feeling nothing.
I learned later on in life that what I have is in actuality a gift when it comes to me sitting in the seat of a teacher. My spirit will gather information from the person in front of me, so I can guide them accurately in the direction their higher self is seeking them to know consciously. I can't access that by thought alone.
Being a vessel for someone else has become my biggest gift I now work with on a daily basis. I had to take my time to study and understand this tool. I began exploring and studying energy for the first time with proper guidance around the year 2010. That is where my biggest curse turned to gold.
I would remove myself from people and groups to begin my discovery of finding myself. A funny thing to say, but truer than true. I needed to know where my border ends and another's begin to work with them. How can I ever have energetic boundaries if I don't know where I end and the world begins around me? How can anyone have energetic boundaries with no conscious awareness around this?
Solitude is a very powerful place. Find yourself there. Ground into that. Ground into you. Then and only then share yourself with the world without losing yourself completely my empath friend. Some of the MOST important moments in life only happen in solitude. Birth, death, meditation, intuitive guidance, creative endeavors like writing, connecting to your soul/spirit, just to name a few.
Balance is key. Don't spend so much time in solitude that it turns to depression and isolation. Reconnect with yourself, re-align to your purpose, gain grounding and clarity, then off you go to share yourself with those meant to experience your full self in the world.
Practice this, don't try to perfect it. This human journey is about having experiences, and not an aim for perfection. When I feel I lost connection with myself I roll out my Yoga Hustle Mat, sit on my Yoga Hustle bolster, close my eyes, and ground back into my soul. I feel right at home.
1: https://www.yogahustle.com