I'm not sure about empaths being a unique gift, I certainly see people becoming more in tuned with significant others once a certain rapport has been established compared to strangers and that's reasonable because you get the other's rhythm once some bond is formed. While being in tuned with strangers seems like a hit or miss for most people especially online. Would you consider people just being wired to be selectively empathetic to those only within their social circle as Empaths too? or are the Empaths you mean are people that just have a wider, nonspecific reach within the population groups they are in?
RE: This Christmas Morning