The Art of Being an Empath

08/24/2025

JOY in the JOurneY - August 23

There is Joy EVERYWHERE, and it gets missed sometimes in the mundane of the everyday. The hustle and bustle. The rigid routines. The needing of things to look a certain way.

Joy for me on this day was being
inspired to go spend time at a botanical garden. Not just any botanical garden, the one with the Prayer Wheel that was blessed by the Dalai Lama in 2005.

Joy was also listening to my heart and releasing a tiny sparkle of my son’s ashes in this holy place. His message - “this will free us both”.

🖊️📸Britene Larna

08/20/2025

JOY in the JOurneY - August 20

Sometimes it’s the smallest things that bring Joy to my heart and soul.

Today it is working in my home office with the windows wide open - letting in the late summer breeze, and the smell and sound of the gentle rain.

If this is the only Joy in my day, it is enough. But, it won’t be. There are so many more small things to notice and embrace to fill my life with Joy.

🖊️📸Britene Larna

08/16/2025

JOY in the JOurneY - August 16

Quiet morning on the lanai.

Sipping coffee from a gifted handmade pottery cup.

The chimes are calm, but happy.

The sky is a beautiful shade of blue.

🖊️📸Britene Larna

08/15/2025

JOY in the JOurneY - August 15

Making magic in my kitchen with fresh peaches.

And the beauty of locally grown, and in season fruits and flowers.

I am so blessed to live where I live and to be alive!!!!

🖊️📸Britene Larna

08/13/2025

JOY in the JOurneY - August 13

A mixed bouquet of zinnias and sunflowers has graced my home for several days. As the larger sunflower blooms died, it was time to accept the beauty they had already provided and let them go. And then I noticed the sunflower buds. I carefully trimmed away the dead foliage and placed what was still living in fresh water.

My Joy today is seeing the first of three little buds opening and spreading their sunshine.

Yes - this visual/analogy can be applied to life as well.

🖊️📸Britene Larna
Model: Moose (he liked the flower bouquet as much as I did).

08/12/2025

08/09/2025

JOY in the JOurneY - August 9 ~

Waking up to the sunrise out my kitchen window. I love to go on adventures. I love to be home. I am in a peaceful space.

I learned long ago that wherever I go, there I am. A change in geography, even if it’s going on vacation, is only peaceful if I started the adventures with an internal sense of wellbeing.

There is more Joy where there is also peace.

Photo: Britene Larna

08/07/2025

JOY in the JOurneY - August 7 ~

The past two weeks of Joy included - six flights, six hotels, five different airports, many hours of flying, many more hours on a bus with a tour group of 23 other personalities. I could have said people but, when you are an empath, people are felt on an internal level, so the experience is different than surface level. We can “feel” them before they ever speak a word.

All of these travelers have a story. They are all in various states of recovery, which I define as “the process one takes to reconnect with Self after life experiences happen to us”.

Some are in active recovery and others are doing their best to avoid their stories and how they have been shaped by them. Some are wounded and don’t realize their behaviors paint the bigger picture of their story without words. Some are too busy with their half full cup to notice and appreciate they have a cup at all. Others are busy filling their cup with Joy in which to remember the trip fondly long after they have returned home to normal life.

Clearly, not all went as planned. I did not connect with everyone in the group, only exchanging cell numbers with a select few. There were delays for lateness (I was the late “eejit” only once, okay twice). Only one person (me) left their phone on the bus and was without it until the next morning. That was the third and last time as the group “eejit”.

Why do I share all this?

Because s**t goes wrong, even on vacation things do not always go according to plan. And then, welcome to life where there is plenty of “wrong” if that’s all you’re looking for.

Here’s where choice comes in ~

Do we focus on the wrong or do we see the underlying beauty?

Do we focus on the outward behaviors of fellow travelers or give them grace and just be kind as we will never be privy to all the stories that drives how they show up in the world?

Do we keep keeping people at a distance? Or do we connect however briefly as part of our own healing process?

Choices!

Seeking Joy is a choice!

I choose Joy!

🖊️📸 Britene Larna

08/03/2025

JOY in the JOurneY - August 2 ~

Taking time to recharge my soul battery with flowers, old buildings, beaches, and whatever else shows up.

Photos: Britene Larna

07/26/2025

JOY in the JOurneY - July 26 to August 11 ~

Traveling and unplugged.

Photo: Britene Larna

07/24/2025

JOY in the JOurneY - July 23 ~

I woke today in a safe place.
I have food.
I have clothing.
I have Joy!

Photo: Britene Larna