As an intuitive empath, I sometimes feel like a wanderer in a world that doesn’t quite fit. My soul feels everything with such depth that true kinship is rare to find. California once held a place in my circle of belonging. Colorado has yet to offer me that same embrace.

Childhood felt different for me, as if I lived in a parallel world. The noise of parties, concerts, and malls felt like assaults on my spirit, and I learned early to mask that pain with substances just to endure.

Solitude was my nourishment—the stillness of the park, the sheltering arms of a tree, the soft current of poetry spilling onto the page.

After my mother’s death, even in a house bustling with children and adults, an aloneness clung to me, heavy and unshakable.

From those roots grew my life as an intuitive empath, born in a world that feared and muted my sensitivity.

Without guidance, I was told I was “too much,” that something in me was broken.

Such messages etched invisibility deep into my heart.

Today, that early wound still whispers through me—the ache of never quite fitting in, the square peg pressing against a world of round holes.

As a teenager, my sanctuary was a Vietnam letter-writing campaign, where I poured myself into words for over 105 soldiers.

Even then, I often felt like an alien passing through Earth, homesick for a place I couldn’t name.

The film E.T. didn’t just entertain me—it mirrored my own longing.

Even now, I feel like a traveler who has never found a true home, always on the edge of belonging. It’s no wonder I’ve moved about 31 times, never staying in one place for more than a few years. There’s a hollow place inside me, paired with a constant pull toward the solace of solitude.

As I have grown as an intuitive empath, I have come to appreciate the gift of being different.

“If you feel like you don’t fit into the world you inherited, it is because you were born to help create a new one.”

― Ross Caligiuri, Dreaming in the Shadows

Those with tender hearts were born to be beacons in this world.

Empathy is not weakness—it is power wrapped in grace.

To every soul who carries a different vision or feels life more deeply, know this: your difference is the light that will change the world.

Each morning, I choose to honor the gift of my differences. I strive to live as my true, authentic self and to protect that light from being dimmed. In doing so, I find joy in letting my spirit shine.