Member-only story
I Rejected the Label of Empath
But my research forced me to accept it
Yesterday I went for a walk with my wife and our three dogs when we passed a fourth, tiny dog with a broken leg. The little guy hopped around on three working limbs and gave us a questioning look. Where is my human and who is going to help me with this leg?
“Oh, honey, look!” I pointed to the small animal as he stared back at me. “I think his leg is broken.”
“Yeah,” she agreed, “but we don’t know who he belongs to and we can’t do much about it.”
She took the dog’s picture, posted it to our neighborhood chat, and continued on her way, anxious to get our dogs some fresh air. I stood and stared at the poor, broken animal as he stared back at me. I went up closer — no ID on his collar. Crushed, I walked away from him.
“That poor thing!” I said, catching up to my wife and our little dachshund who was eager to get off her leash and show us the way to the park. “I feel terrible.”
“What do you want me to do?” my wife asked. Her question stopped me. Did I want her to do anything? Maybe I just needed her to pause and feel this tragedy with me. But, my partner doesn’t dig into the emotional experiences of others, certainly not animals that don’t live in our home.
