What the Caregiver is like when it leads
I am the part of you that notices who needs holding. The one who reaches before being asked. I feel the weight of others' pain, and I carry it because that's who I am.
When I'm active, empathy heightens. I reach out before thinking. I feel others' needs as urgently as my own, sometimes more so.
Nourishes without depletion. Sacred container. Receives as freely as gives.
When it takes over
In shadow, I become the martyr. I give until I'm empty, then resent those I gave to. I use caring as a way to feel needed, and collapse when no one needs me.
- Martyr complex
- Self-forgetting until resentment builds
- Using care to feel needed