Empaths are people who are highly sensitive to the energy and the emotions of the people, animals, and sometimes even the spiritual imprints that exist around them.
This extreme sensitivity applies to the familiar as well as the unfamiliar; people we are intimately close with and total strangers.
We experience the world around us and feel what other people are feeling through our extraordinarily heightened senses and keen intuitions.
We often internalize the feelings of others without being aware we are doing it and interpret those feelings as being our own.
Just as with every other healthy minded individual, empaths have the ability to empathize with whom they are interacting.
We are able to relate to how others feel and understand what they are experiencing.
What sets empaths apart is our higher-than-average level of empathy, the ease at which we can connect to the feelings of others, and the range within which we can do it.
And where others experience feelings of empathy that are cued by interacting with others, empaths do not always.
We do not have to rely on the physical senses of sight, hearing, or touch, or clues from our interactions with others, to pick up on the emotions and energies around us.
We can feel and internalize emotions from people near and far.
Crowded places such as:
shopping malls
supermarkets
stadiums
or movie theaters can overwhelm the senses of the empath.
They may fill him with uncomfortable emotions, emotions that feel as if they are his own, picked up from the all the energies around him.
Environments with depressive, low energy, such as nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and hospitals can cause feelings of depression, physical maladies, and fatigue in the empath.
Thrift stores, consignment shops, and antique stores, places that carry the residual energy of previous owners can be very draining for empaths as can used cars or pre-owned houses.
I love antiques but I have had to stop frequenting those types of shops because they zap my already low energy, energy that may be constantly being depleted by the many pieces I already have in my home.
I am not willing to part with them so we will just have to find a way to live together.
Empaths are avid seekers of solutions, answers, and knowledge.
We are deep thinkers and studiers.
Believers that there is a solution for every problem, and uncomfortable and frustrated until we find it, empaths will tirelessly search until they are satisfied.
Those who are spiritually connected will ask God or the universe for guidance and answers.
Our gift allows us to tap into the spiritual realm and tune into its energies.
We frequently experience synchronicities, phenomena that occur in everyone's life, but because we are more connected than most people to the supernatural world, we more easily recognize these coincidences as signposts of guidance.
Empaths have great interest in metaphysics.
Likely having experienced paranormal experiences of our own, whether it be near death experiences, out of body experiences, psychic ability, or a connection with those who have crossed over to the other side, we easily incorporate this unseen reality into our physical experience without question.
We naturally know that these things are so without requiring any rational explanation.
With a natural ability to tap into Universal energy and heal others, empaths tend to gravitate toward work in the fields of holistic therapies and energy work.
Our sensitivity allows us to feel the emotions of others, influence their bodies and minds, and create harmony within them.
In order to do that, empaths must learn ways to keep the energy of others from becoming their own.
Otherwise, the balance and harmony we create in others will cause unbalance and disharmony within us.
Empaths are usually non-violent and non-aggressive people who love peaceful and harmonious environments.
Disharmony makes us uncomfortable.
We will do everything we can to avoid it.
If and when we are confronted with turbulence, we will take on the role of peacemaker and will work toward a resolution as quickly as possible.
I have played the role of peacemaker with family and friends since I was a little child.
We are painfully sensitive to:
violence
cruelty
tragedy
whether real or dramatically acted out.
Watching it on the television, in the movies, or reading about anything that involves the physical or emotional suffering of another feels nearly unbearable.
The suffering of people, children, or animals becomes our own suffering.
We fully identify with it and feel it.
There are many things I cannot watch on television without becoming extremely depressed, but the first one that comes to mind is Sarah McLachlan's ASPCA commercial about animal cruelty:
I quickly change the channel the second it comes on; otherwise, I begin to internalize the suffering of the animals.
Empaths deeply connect to animals of all species.
We resonate with their energies, love their pureness, and highly value their unconditional love.
Empaths often prefer the company of animals over the company of humans, usually having a pet or pets of our own.
Many empaths become vegan or vegetarian because we can feel the vibrations of the animal that the meat came from when we eat it.
We have a clear sense of the animal's fear and suffering.
We don't understand why a beautiful animal does not have the same rights as humans do and must die.
I am a vegetarian who occasionally eats fish and seafood.
It is never a comfortable experience for me because I can't help thinking about the once beautiful living and breathing animal that was killed, maybe even suffered, and is now on my plate.
I don't feel as if my right to eat it super cedes the animal's right to live.
Because empaths feel things so deeply and tend to be nurturing, we often work as volunteers who passionately dedicate their time to helping animals, children, others in need, or the environment.
We are excellent listeners who are truly interested in the happiness and welfare of others.
Because of our natural ability to know things without being told, we can be a great asset to others because we tend to know where others are coming from.
But this knowing ability also makes it very difficult for others to lie to us, put on a facade, or hide their emotions.
We just know the feelings and intentions of other people, even if we have just met them.
We are also adept at reading body language and noticing subtle inflections of speech that others might miss.
Empaths require truthfulness in others and in their selves.
We feel terribly uncomfortable with those we perceive to be lying to us, manipulating us, or acting phony.
Because of the way it makes us feel we do not accept or tolerate that type of behavior from anyone, including ourselves.
And where we are generally very tolerable people, we absolutely cannot tolerate unnecessary drama, egotistical behavior, or self-centeredness; especially that of narcissists.
We also cannot tolerate negativity in others, especially judgment and jealousy.
Those attitudes immediately drain our energy.
We cannot lie to ourselves, nor can we pretend to enjoy things that we don't enjoy, whether it involves social activities or our work.
Our work must feel meaningful to us, or it will end up making us:
emotionally
spiritually
physically
unwell.
Many empaths work in creative fields such as:
art
dance
writing
or music; expressive fields that feeds their souls and is vital to their well-beings.
We also cannot pretend to be happy when we're not, and unhappiness can take us over at any moment.
Because of the bombardment of overwhelming energies, negative and positive, empaths are highly prone to mood swings.
We can be easy going and happy one minute and miserable the next without any logical transition.
We may be the life of the party one minute and then quiet and reclusive the next.
When we are miserable, we can't hide it even if we want to.
It is written across our face for everyone to see.
One thing that makes us very unhappy is restrictions.
Empaths are free spirits who must have their freedom of movement and expression.
We feel imprisoned by:
control
rules that are too rigid or that we do not believe in
routines
Many of our life experiences have been daring or adventurous - we have a great need to experience the true pulse of life, whether good or bad.
And having had these various life experiences we have knowledge on a wide range of topics.
This often makes us appear wise to others, though we are usually quiet about our achievements unless asked.
We are more comfortable pointing out the achievements and attributes of others.
Empaths exude a deep level of warmth and compassion that draws others to them.
Strangers sense that about us on a subconscious level and find themselves telling us private things about their lives.
Before they realize what, they have done they have poured out their heart to us.
Animals bond to us very quickly for the same reasons.
Our deepest mutual connections are with those who those who are like us, those who get us, and those we can be expressive, open, and frank with.
We can form lasting friendships with those who are not like us, but it will always feel as if an element of the relationship missing.
Empaths have difficulty staying focused on things that do not stimulate their minds.
We are daydreamers who get bored or distracted easily.
When we are not stimulated our minds will go off to other places, sometimes even detach from the physical reality.
We live our lives in duality.
Empaths physically exist in the dense, dark world filled with negativity and lower energy called Earth, but they mentally exist in the light, pure, high energy, optimistic world of spirit.
It is hard for us to stay grounded because we understand the freedom of the alternative world, but we must stay grounded because that is the way we all complete our Earthly missions.
Empathy Connects Us to the Heart of Others
Excerpted from my August 2, 2012, show on A Fine Time for Healing, "Is Our Ability to Empathize Eroding?"
Empathy is the ability to emotionally put oneself into someone else's shoes - the capacity to share and understand the feelings, emotions, and perspective experienced by another person, both negative and positive.
Empathy is the identification and relationship that connects us as human beings.
We show empathy through statements such as,
"I can see you are really uncomfortable about this,"
and
"I can understand why you would be upset."
We show empathy through a hug, a reassuring touch, and even through a "high five" when our empathy relates to someone's success.
Likewise, a study at Berkeley concluded that a particular variant of the oxytocin receptor gene is associated with the trait of human empathy.
In the study, those who had this gene variant were found to have a more empathic nature.
Dr. Zak says that this study demonstrates that some people, about five percent of our population, may have a gene variant that makes them less empathic.
In other words, he says, some people are more or less immune to oxytocin.
So, there is scientific evidence that the goodness trait is encoded in our genes.
But nature is not the only influencing factor.
We may be born with the capacity to have empathy, but our ability to apply it, to care and understand, is a learned behavior.
Social psychologists say that empathetic behavior is built from the secure attachment babies develop with their parents or primary caregivers, and by modeling their parents' empathetic behavior towards them and others.
Sincere empathetic behavior develops in children whose parents constantly show, teach, and reinforce it.
It is a gradual emergence that occurs with the consistency and caring shown to them during the formative years of their social and emotional development.
In many cases, but not all, adults who lack empathy have been victims of childhood abuse or neglect.
Those who have had extremely painful childhoods, ones that have involved emotional, sexual, or physical abuse, often lose touch with their own feelings while shutting themselves off from the pain.
Their underdeveloped coping skills leave them saddled with distress, whether their own or others, and their lack of ability to experience their own pain prevents them from feeling the pain of others.
As adults their elaborately built defense mechanisms block guilt and shame while also blocking their conscience.
They live life through fear, threats, punishment, and isolation rather than empathy and kindness.
In many cases the opposite is true - the person over-identifies with others' pain, is overwhelmed by it, and becomes overly empathetic to the point that they absorb the feelings of everyone around them.
Their internal pain and suffering is triggered when they see others in pain and suffering, therefore become preoccupied with everyone else's pain and make it their own.
I did that for most of my life. Often it was to deflect my own pain but ironically it caused me to suffer more.
I had very poor coping skills and my boundaries were out of whack if existent at all.
I also modeled the behavior I observed as a child.
I do think that overall, my generation, a generation that relied on human interaction, a generation where families visited relatives and friends every Sunday because there was nothing else to do, is more empathetic than the generations that have followed.
In fact, an eye-opening new study presented by University of Michigan researchers at an Association for psychological science annual meeting claims that college students who started school after the year 2000 have empathy levels that are 40% lower than students thirty years prior.
The sharpest drop occurred in the last nine years.
The study includes data from over 14,000 students.
One reason that this is happening is because students are becoming more self-oriented as their world becomes increasingly more competitive.
Some say that social networking is creating a more narcissistic generation.
According to lead researchers, it is harder for today's college student to empathize with others because so much of their social interactions are done through a computer or cell phone and not through real life interaction.
This is also a generation that grew up playing video games.
Much of their formative years development has been influenced by input from computer generated images and violent cyber-interactions.
There has to be a connection.
This may partly explain the numbing of this generation.
Another point of view was presented by Christopher Lasch, a well-known American historian, moralist, and social critic, in a book he published in 1979 called, The Culture of Narcissism - American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations.
Lasch links the prevalence of narcissism in our society to the decline of the family unit, loss of core values, and long-term social disintegration in the twentieth century.
He believed that the liberal, utopian lifestyle of the 60's gave way to a search for personal growth in the 70's.
But people were unsuccessful in their attempts to find their selves.
So, a movement began to build a society that celebrated self-expression, self-esteem, and self-love.
That's all well and good, or so it seems, but as a result of the "me" focus, more narcissism was inadvertently created.
It all backfired - aggression, materialism, lack of caring for others, and shallow values have been the result.
There are certainly many of us who have not become this way - studies speak for society in general.
Today we live with constant internal and external pressures of life.
On a daily basis our society faces:
terrorism
crime
economic crises
widespread job insecurity
war
political corruption
We see the disintegration of morality wherever we look.
As a writer, author, and inspirer I was greatly disturbed by the overwhelming success of a book (I will not promote the name except to say that it has the word "gray" in the title) based on pornography and smut.
It astounds me that millions of people have read it.
My publisher would have instantly rejected a manuscript of such low moral content and offensive subject matter.
Where has our appreciation for quality literature as a society gone to?
And what has happened to our legal system?
It has been demonstrated time and time again that the rights of the innocent take a back seat to the rights of the offender.
Our laws do very little to control criminals. In fact, it seems as if criminals control the law.
If ever an empathy disorder could spur unthinkable violence to erupt in a seemingly normal person, now is the time.
Scientists have studied empathy from many approaches and together have found both physiological and psychological roots for it.
Since humans are composed of body, mind, and soul, that makes perfect sense.
Many things influence our behaviors.
Simon Baron-Cohen, a developmental psychopathology and autism expert, researched the genetic and environmental aspects of empathy back in the 60's.
He was curious as to why some people lack empathy in their dealings with others.
His book Zero Degrees of Empathy - A New Theory of Human Cruelty is an expose of his opinions, personal experiences, and findings.
The object of the book is to present a way of understanding why people do bad things.
Through his book he explains away the intangible concept of evil and explores a more explainable theory - the theory that there are levels of empathy, and they lie within a spectrum.
Baron-Cohen says that a person's level of empathy comes from an empathy circuit lying deep within the brain.
The function of this circuit determines where a person falls within the empathy spectrum.
He measures a person's level of empathy by degrees, six degrees being a high functioning empathy circuit and zero degrees a low functioning one.
He classifies people who have psychopathic and narcissistic personality disorders, those who lack the ability to feel others' feelings and cannot self-regulate their treatments of others, as zero-negative.
The best and most common way that empathy is assessed, with empathy defined as,
"The reactions of one individual to the observed experiences of another,"
is through a questionnaire called The Interpersonal Reactivity Index.
The questionnaire uses 5-point scales (A = does not describe me well to E = describes me very well).
This scale is used to evaluate a person's perspective of his or herself.
There are four categories of assessment.
The first category is Fantasy, as in the statement,
"When I am reading an interesting story or novel, I imagine how I would feel if the events in the story were happening to me.
The second category is Perspective-taking, as in the statement,
"Before criticizing somebody, I try to imagine how I would feel if I were in their place."
The third category is empathetic concern, as in the statement,
"When I see someone being taken advantage of, I feel kind of protective towards them."
And the fourth category is personal distress, as in the statement,
"When I see someone who badly needs help in an emergency, I go to pieces."
Since empathy begins with awareness of another person's feelings and receptiveness to the subtle cues that others give off, which happen to be abilities that women are naturally adept at, females generally score higher on these types of tests.
Those who have experienced the widest range of emotions and those who are most in touch with their feelings are also more able to empathize with what others feel.
These people are not typically a threat to society.
But there are also those who are completely devoid of empathy.
These are the people that are dangers to our society.
They are ticking time bombs that may explode at any time.
It's not easy to stay sensitive in such a cruel, desensitized world but it's imperative we do.
That's the beauty of empathic souls; they have open and loving hearts, even if it hurts, which is why each of us needs to generate and receive so much love and encouragement.
Loving empathy is its own reward, even if we're not showered directly with supporting human love as much as we'd prefer.
The spiritual is supreme.
Connection to Source is our unfailing infinite supply line of everything we need.
But I agree, it's sure nice when that consciousness is manifest in another human being and can be shared between us.
That's the nature of true interpersonal love, and we need to shower it upon each other.
I feel strongly that if we don't allow ourselves to have broken hearts for the lost and suffering, we're virtually useless consciousness and a betrayal to Source.
True heartfelt empathy heals and strengthens us and those around us as we go through this voyage.
Letting these sincere emotions course through us, whether it be sharing the pain of battered and betrayed victims of all sorts, including animals, or the sadness of the passing of a dear friend, they're good for us and are a wonderful opportunity to draw closer to Source.
Using these deep experiences as an energy carrier signal to piggyback other issues on our hearts and minds into the great bosom of Love is a real key.
When channeled consciously from the heart, these experiences lead to much greater intuitive understandings, strength of spirit, and that deep, deep peace that passes understanding.
Those who cannot move with these fully awake empathic spiritual impulses in effect have become cauterized.
The media works hard at this, bashing the collective head with desensitizing, violent images and mind crushing propaganda constantly.
That's why they do it.
Not just to promote their programs, but to shut down our conscious awareness, the all-empowering Source of love and light.
That's what they fear the most.
That we will awaken and tap into our magnificence.
Counteracting the War Against Love
This is fundamentally what this current hijack attempt is all about.
Extinguishing love.
Love is soft, love is kind.
But it is also extremely powerful. Love is a form of creation at work.
It contradicts everything we're witnessing in today's media driven control structure.
Express your love every chance you get.
Others are starved for it just as you are.
Give and it will return, but don't do it with that motive. It just happens naturally, because that is the co-creative nature of love.
So many are starved for a word of encouragement, a kind gesture, a thank you or word of appreciation.
The downdraft of ugliness is so strong right now we need to support each other in any way we can.
Make yourself vulnerable. It's the most protected space there is.
Put a little love in your heart - and let it out!
Our Warfare Is Spiritual
The forces of darkness cannot overcome the Light, as hard as they may try.
Any success they may seem to have at harnessing humanity for their own ends is so very temporary.
While we are infinite spiritual beings, they are temporal, parasitic forces.
Keep that in mind, no matter how things may appear at times.
Let's fully manifest and get this era done away with by letting Universe work fully through us.
It happens one heart at a time, but each of us has to keep doing what we're each meant to do and be.
Stay soft and loving, yet strong and resolved.
Our weapons are spiritual - don't let them entice you into their arena of mind games and ignorant lower vibrational reactionism.
Stay where you are strong, yet engage them, nonetheless.
On your terms.
Thank all of you who give so much.
Please know how loved and appreciated you are by so, so many.
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View full-sizeDownload The tragedy of humankind is that many of us have little recognition of the powerful conscious energies inherent in our collective psyche.
Our propaganda and media systems have been exploiting the mythological images, collective stereotypes, and subconscious signifiers that play on our collective vulnerabilities.
Knowledge has more or less trickled down to the average person through heavily filtered channels, and most often has been doctored, amended, and/or edited.
The end result has been not knowledge but consensus information, or 'allowed' information.
It has served the elite power structure well that people in general have not awoken to the understanding that humanity possesses incredible capacity and inherent resources for creative expansion and evolutionary development.
It is now necessary to see our future potentials, not the daily news.
For many of us we have been brought up within a social structure that demands we become a 'productive member' of our society; thus, much emphasis is placed upon developing individual skills so that we can compete with each other for survival.
Inherent in this is a residual fear that if we open ourselves too much to others, we may lose our 'competitive edge' and defined sense of individuality.
In a sense we have been partially programmed to play the role of victim or fighter, externalizing our troubles and our blame.
Added to this is the fact that Western science, which has asserted itself as the dominant hegemony since the Renaissance, has been at pains to stress that matter is primary, and that consciousness is a secondary by-product from our mental activity.
The modern worldview which denies the primacy of consciousness is fostering forms of human alienation, both psychological and social.
It is a great paradox that modern science, itself a result of human consciousness, has produced a view of the cosmos which has no room for consciousness.
Yet human beings are in need of meaning and significance in their lives as much as they are in need of air to breathe and food to eat.
This struggle over the conscious mind(s) of humanity, which has been going on in various forms for eons, is coming to a crux in our present generation.
The result is that we have now collectively arrived at a critical moment in our evolution of human civilization.
Any society or civilization which makes the material world its sole pursuit and object of concern cannot but devolve in the long run.
As Professor Needleman so aptly remarked:
The esoteric is the heart of civilization.
And should the outward forms of a human civilization become totally unable to contain and adapt the energies of great spiritual teachings, then that civilization has ceased to serve its function in the universe.[1]
It is therefore imperative that people begin to break-away from non-developmental social conditioning and make efforts to make compassionate intent a part of our everyday experience.
This includes being conscious of the type of impacts we receive, and to avoid those impacts and influences that are negative in favor of those that are positive.
For example, true words encourage us and give us strength because we instinctively recognize truthfulness - our body consciousness reacts to this, even if indirectly as through the form of galvanic skin response, pupil response, or through our electrical nerve responses.
In short, our body feels the essence of what impacts us, and negative or false information weakens us.
This concept was researched scientifically through testing muscle strength.
Dr. David Hawkins has written extensively on how muscle testing shows that various impacts create either strong or weak reactions from the body.
In his work he relates how people who listened to lies proved to exhibit a weakened muscle reaction, whilst those who listened to positive words and statements showed a strong muscle response.
In his work Dr. Hawkins further notes,
How particular language 'attractors' such as:
Shame
Guilt
Apathy
Grief
Fear
Desire
Anger
and Pride serve as negative, energy depleting emotions.
Higher energy attractors are the positive words/emotions such as:
Courage
Willingness
Acceptance
Reason
Love
and Joy.
According to Dr. Hawkins, over 99% of humans calibrate below the level of Joy, which is a saddening thought.
What this also tells us is that our whole-body functions as our mind - an extended mind.
As such, our whole body can respond in empathy, and be strengthened through empathy and compassion.
We need to listen more to our bodies, the information they give to us, and trust in this part of our mind - and not just the thoughts coming from our head upstairs.
When the mind is receiving ambiguous impacts and news, it is the body we can often rely on to give us more accurate and truthful information.
Furthermore, during moments of cultural and social disorder/disequilibrium the human mind often works with an energy and intensity not manifested when social patterns are stable and monotone.
At such dynamic periods there can be the realization that no individual is isolated; that each person is interwoven into a vibrant network and web of:
psychological
emotional
spiritual
interrelations.
Such realizations can be heightened during periods, such as now, when it appears that human consciousness is moving through a time of critical transition.
Our self-awareness over the nature of human consciousness has been increasing greatly over the last several decades.
The latest findings in the new sciences (especially quantum and neuroscience), in consciousness studies, in the popularity for inner and self-development, etc., all indicate a new awareness emerging within our collective consciousness.
It is interesting to note that according to the research of Dr. David Hawkins human consciousness was dangling at below the 200 level (190) [2] for many centuries before it suddenly rose up to its present higher level sometime in the mid 1980s.
The overall average level of human consciousness stands at 207 (as of late 1990s).
Hence, many past predictions and prophecies of doom may have been avoided because they relate to a time when human consciousness was below the 200 level.
For the world to stay at levels below 200 over a prolonged period of time would, says Dr. Hawkins, cause a great imbalance that would likely lead to humanity's demise.
When one's consciousness falls below 200 at any given moment a person begins to lose power and thus grow weaker and more prone to be manipulated by one's surroundings, says Dawkins.
Now, however, human consciousness is on the rise; and as it rises it has the capacity to affect - or infect - other minds.
As Dawkin indicates:
The power of the few individuals at the top counterbalances the weakness of the masses:
1 individual at level 600 counterbalances 10 million individuals below level 200.
1 individual at level 700 counterbalances 70 million individuals below level 200. [3]
What this tells us is that as human consciousness rises it has an exponential capacity to affect others around, like an expanding energy wave.
What this tells us is that individuals have the capacity to make change infectious by transmitting one's state of being amongst others.
That is, energetic change will come through our social and cultural forms, and not by avoiding them.
Developmental change on a large scale can occur by creating conscious change from within our daily lives and within our social systems, and not outside of them.
By just walking on this planet, holding the focus and intention, we create incredible energy - energy that is shared.
We are creating change by just being alive.
That is why being without fear is so important.
We need not create a black and white film in our heads when in reality we are creating color.
We can make use of the tools that are already available to us, and within us.
There is an exponentially increasing mass of us who are now awakening our empathic consciousness.
Recent de-stabilizing events in our financial and political spheres have drawn people's focus to the dysfunction of many of the systems that we once gave our trust to.
Even the focus on religious extremism in the media has drawn people's attention not only to the deficit of spiritual values in our major religions but also to how religion is being used as a tool for furthering:
social
political
emotional
control.
This trance-like grip on our collective consciousness is now being stripped away as people awaken to the knowing that there is so much more to our lives than that of a materialistic and consumer-based lifestyle.
Yet don't become frustrated if things don't happen tomorrow, but trust that changes and shifts are happening over time.
The necessity of inner knowing, intuition, self-trust, and integrity is now critical.
And let us remember that humans are biased for compassion and empathy.
The awakening of our empathic mind is our natural inheritance.
References
[1] Jacob Needleman, New Religions (New York: E P Dutton, 1977)
[2] This is Dr. Hawkins scale for calibrating the level of human consciousness according to his 'Map of Consciousness'. See his work for further details
[3] D. Hawkins, Power vs. Force - The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior
The accelerating changes occurring across our planet right now will have no alternative but to force a mind-change on a global and individual level.
We are coming together as a global species like never before; despite what we have been shown and told by the mainstream media.
We need to view this in both the immediate and the bigger picture.
Due to our relatively short human life span we rarely reflect beyond a generation or two in front of us.
We have evolved as a species that reacts to immediate concerns.
This served us well in the past when we had survival needs in a restricted world of limited horizons.
Yet now we need a perspective that is global at the very least - and even possibly beyond!
If we now look at the bigger picture, we will see that a different type of consciousness has been emerging over the past 150 years.
That is, since the dawn of the Second Industrial Revolution.
The new technologies of the Second Industrial Revolution - the telephone, radar, cinema, automobile and airplane - called for a new reorientation of human perspective.
A new perception of the dimensions of space and time began to birth a psychological consciousness - one that wanted to look beyond the borders and horizons of the physical frontier.
The 3rd Industrial Revolution, which is now emerging, will be a convergence of digital communications combined with a young generation that is more globally aware.
This has the potential to catalyze upon this planet a rising empathic, integral consciousness.
Also, our global communications will encourage new relations in our extended connectivity.
That is, increased multiple relations are likely to stimulate a connected, collaborative consciousness; rather than a consciousness of conflict and control.
A planetary citizenry is emerging that will exhibit greater empathy, and which will create a different planetary society within perhaps two generations.
Humanity already contains the seeds of these momentous potentials.
Many social changes within the upcoming years will emerge from the creative engagement and innovation of individuals and collectives worldwide - a shift catalyzed within the hearts, spirit, and minds of the people.
Externally we may seem like a vast, distant, and separate collection of individuals yet in truth the human family is an intimate, closely entwined species comprised of various cultures.
Many of the younger generation now are waking up to this fact.
Youngsters the world over are growing up accustomed to having networks of hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of friends across the planet, sharing intimacy and empathizing easily with an international social group of like-minded souls.
This younger generation is manifesting, whether conscious of it or not, a non-local level of human relationships.
This expanded connectivity is impacting and affecting a change in our psychology and consciousness.
We are now being impelled to live in ways that enable all other people to live as well.
We are also being compelled to live in ways that respect the lives of others and that respect the right to the economic and cultural development of all people; and to pursue personal fulfillment in harmony with the integrity of nature.
These traits may constitute what I refer to as an integral-ecological consciousness: a person acting and behaving as both an individual and as a part of the greater connected whole.
Such multiple relations form a more varied, rich and complex life; they also provide a more diverse range of impacts and opportunities to develop the self.
As well as providing challenges for developing new skills and learning, our diverse networks can form new friendships and add extra meaning to our lives.
Many young people today are comfortable in expressing themselves with strangers; they explore and express their inner thoughts, feelings, emotions and ideas with hundreds of unknown persons online, from various cultural backgrounds.
More and more daily interactions are empathic as we react and share news, stories, and emotional impacts from sources around the world.
Empathy is one of the core values by which we create and sustain social life.
Exposure to impacts outside of our own local and restrictive environments helps us to learn tolerance, and to live with experiences that are richer and more complex, full of ambiguities, and multiple perspectives.
It is a mode of connecting that allows diverse people worldwide to construct a new form of planetary social capital.
We have the resources to co-create a planetary human society where once again the focus is on social benefit rather than profit.
We can see many examples of this today, such as in online collaborative tools and both local and global projects.
The online global community is a model for the new paradigm that illustrates how sharing can work above the individual motive for profit.
The values and ethics of communal sharing might seem odd or out-of-place to the old capitalist-consumerist mindset, yet these are the very values that will be on the rise within the coming generations.
The spectacular rise in global communication technologies (Internet and mobile phones, etc.) reflects a new form of participatory consciousness, especially among younger people.
This new model is a distributed one; in other words, it connects people through networks rather than through hierarchical structures.
It also represents a more feminine energy that seeks relationships, to nurture and to collaborate rather than compete and conquer. It is this emerging feminine energy that underlies the rise in global empathy.
Also, since people are connecting amongst themselves in multiple relations it impels them to have an active engagement.
For those individuals brought-up within the older generation of communication technologies (radio, television, fixed phones), the interaction was either two-way or, for the most part, one way.
In this era people were passive receivers, targeted by information they could not engage with.
This has now shifted so that the receiver of the communication is both the user and the producer.
We have learnt to democratize our engagement and to activate choice through online social networks, phone messaging, video channels (e.g. You-Tube), and various other broadcast mediums.
The younger generation is waking up quickly and learning how to set-up inexpensive, or free, radio sites (podcasts), home websites, newsletters, and are managing their own forms of self-expression.
This new model is changing our thinking and behavior patterns.
We are now getting used to dealing with multiple connections rather than single ones; and to becoming immersed in diverse relations and not just one-on-one dialogues.
We are also being exposed to a myriad of viewpoints, beliefs, identities, and experiences.
Within these new arrangements we are being asked to respond and engage with the outside world not in fear or with anxiety but with healthy, creative, and positive energies.
As a new generation enters a world where collaboration and connection are the new normal, we are likely to also see a different consciousness responding to such an environment.
In this way, change will come through responding to new patterns and potentials.
With patience, tolerance, empathy, compassion, and conscious communication we will see a different set of values catalyzing change throughout our cultures of the world.
We are going to witness a generation of young people showing a desire for human betterment that will emerge through intensified action for social, political, and ecological change.
More and more young people are growing up experiencing social relations that transcend space and time, as well as cultures, national boundaries, and local ideologies.
This may account for the increasing numbers of young people in developed nations becoming involved in community and social projects and NGOs, such as taking a year out to help in another culture abroad, to learn, experience, and to offer assistance.
Volunteering among the young, despite what appears to be the contrary, is on the increase.
Young people are even putting themselves into dangerous situations - in conflict zones - to stand up for values of peace, justice, equality, and human rights.
Across the world young minds are demanding fair and equal access for all peoples to engage in open communication and free speech.
And it appears that many more creative minds will be joining the global conversation as our current generation(s) increasingly 'wake up'.
In 2012 the planetary population was around 7 billion and the number of registered internet users was 33%, a rise of over 500% from the previous decade.
By 2020 world population is set to be 7.8 billion and internet users worldwide is estimated to be 66% - that's a little under 3 billion new people plugging into the global conversation.
In other words, nearly 3 billion new minds will be tapping in to the information flows; and that's many millions of new creative problem solvers, innovators, and visionaries.
What is more, the majority of these new minds will be coming online from Asia, the Middle East, and what we refer to as the developing countries.
These will be mostly young minds, and minds with necessities, with the urge for social betterment.
Can we imagine the collective potential of these creative new minds; many of them thinking outside of the box, and outside of the old patterns?
It is significant that in times of relative social stability, human consciousness plays a lesser role in the behavior of society.
However, when a society reaches the limits of its stability then social-cultural systems are sensitive and responsive to even the smallest fluctuations in the consciousness of its citizens.
In such times, changes in values, belief sets, perceptions, etc., hold great sway over the future direction of the social situation.
Human consciousness becomes a significant stimulus and catalyst for change during these times of social instability.
That is why it is imperative humanity be collectively focused upon positive development and betterment rather than to be coerced, or conditioned, into a fear-based security that resists change.
We should not underestimate the capacity for the human mind to adapt and evolve according to social and environmental impacts and influences.
Our modern sense of self-awareness has clearly evolved to root us in our social world: a world of extended relations and social networks.
Humanity, it can be said, has been biologically hard-wired to tap into extended social connections and human communication networks.
We are also hard-wired to adapt physically in response to experience - new neural processes in our brains can come into being with intentional effort, awareness, and different patterns of concentration.
This capacity to create new neural connections, and thus new mental skill sets through experience, has been termed neuroplasticity.
The human brain of today has to respond to the incredible amount of energy and information that is flowing through our environments and embedded in our cultural experiences.
By being aware of our experiences and environmental impacts and influences we can gain a better understanding of how our brain and thinking becomes re-patterned.
Thus, how we focus our attention and awareness greatly shapes the structure of our brains.
Further, the ability to grow new neural connections is available throughout our lives and not only in our young formative years.
This knowledge encourages us to nurture our mindfulness, our self-awareness, and our empathic relations with others.
Neuroplasticity also encourages us to be more reflective over our human networks, and to develop those social skills that underlie empathy and compassion.
These new 'wired connections' are exactly what are becoming activated as individuals increasingly 'wake up' to what is happening within our communities, our societies, and upon the planet.
Such distributed connections breach cultural and national borders and force us to self-reflect on our identity, values and ethics.
The opportunity is here for change and betterment like never before in our recent history.
This means that the responsibility is also here; and these two factors may never be present again at exactly the right moment when they are so badly needed.
What the human species may now be witnessing during these years is the rise of intuition, empathy, greater connectivity to the world and to people, and a sense of 'knowing' what changes need to be made.
Furthermore, within each person is a growing sense of the greater cosmic whole: the realization that humanity exists and evolves within a universe of great intelligence and meaning.
This serves to impart within humanity a more profound spiritual impulse.
As a new global empathic mind emerges, people worldwide will grow up with new expressions of mindfulness that are more caring, relational, and compassionate.
The 21st century is likely to be the era that births and nurtures such an evolving consciousness.
Many of the younger people across the world do not accept the social conditioning of anger, fear, and insecurity of their past generations.
They want to reach out for change and betterment.
Around the world there are examples of young people rejecting the conflict mentality of their elder generations.
In conflict zones especially, where young minds are conditioned into unconditional hatred of fixed enemies, there is a backlash against this old programming.
Younger people are reaching out across artificial borders to engage with the so-called 'enemy' and to start a new dialogue of peace and reconciliation.
Such minds realize that the conflict mentality has no future and will be left behind if it cannot accept change.
Whereas many of the old, programmed minds thought that a future meant putting up borders, and viewing the 'others' with suspicious eyes; many of the young minds see differently.
We can see this in youth movements worldwide as there is change emerging in the mindset of young people everywhere.
This is especially so in Middle Eastern territories where restrictive regimes are now encountering rising youthful demographics who are not accepting the old mentalities and old ways.
All young people want what everybody wants:
peace
justice
equality
freedom
etc.
There is a new spring in the step of young, tech-savvy, energetic minds that are by-passing the old models.
In these years ahead - at least for the next two decades - we will increasingly see the signs of the changing of the old guard (the dinosaurs!). And this time they will not be replaced by those with the same consciousness.
With generational change we will see the gradual transition to an era of individuals who think differently, feel differently, connect differently, and who will want to work toward a different world.
A new narrative is emerging, one where each person is integral to the larger picture; the journey of each one of us being a part of the journey as a whole.
This new story informs us that the possibilities are open for humanity to engage in consciously creating its way forward - with harmony, balance and respect to all.
This new narrative is part of humanity's evolving empathic mind and which compels us to seek greater connectivity and meaning in our lives.
This most recent human story is one where we create the story of the future.
