So many of us came into this world with a natural empathy—defined as a capacity to feel and experience within oneself other’s feelings, thoughts and even bodily sensations. This gift could have extended beyond our immediate family or homeplace, whether it looked like the standard nuclear setup or not. This meant that we might have been able to feel the suffering and joys of our neighbors, animals and even the Earth. Children like this are often very open and even seem to pos

Have you done a lot of therapy and personal growth work—perhaps years or even decades—and one day, you realize that what you thought was healed or resolved is still active in some way? Or some aspect of it resurfaces? Maybe because some outer event seems to reactivate it? I have heard this lament from friends, clients and students over many years: “I thought I had resolved this! Why do I have to do it again? I’m so tired of this!” I have been in the same boat myself. Starin