Toxicity of Sympathy. Kiss of Empathy.

Moving from Sympathy to Empathy in an Alphabet-Based World

Sympathy is an insult. It’s a polite way of saying, “I’m so sorry you aren’t running the standard factory software like the rest of us.”

For years, I carried the shame of not learning the rigid rules of the linear world the way my siblings did. Well-meaning people offered me sympathy for my “learning disability.” But sympathy didn't lift the weight—it reinforced the idea that my hardware was broken.

It wasn't broken. My system simply couldn't prioritize an alphabet-based language over my natural, international language of images, patterns, and vibes. I call this Omnioriented, not dyslexia.

I see this same toxic loop play out all the time in my practice, especially with the parents of neuro-spicy or ADHD children. Out of pure love and sympathy, parents panic about whether their children will ever be “successful” by linear standards. This generation of children is experiencing a massive wave of anxiety because they are constantly mirroring their parents' heavy concern for the future. An ADHD or sensitive person—at any age—can feel that unsaid judgment and future-panic instantly.

Parents often freeze their children in time. They think their child loved strawberry ice cream when they were little, so it must always be their favorite. But after a visit to Italy, that child’s system expands, and they now prefer Bacio gelato. The parent stays stuck in the old file, forcing a past image onto a clean, new reality.

On behalf of all the children today: let them out of their cage.

When adults look at these children with sympathy, they are looking down at them. They project their own definitions of lack, fear, and perfection, trapping them in a future they haven't even written yet.

These kids are the exact operating system that our civilization needs right now. They are the future, and they were made this way for a reason. Times are flipping, even if you can't feel it yet. We Omnioriented ones can.

And we have your back

From the old file to taking flight.

.