I'll try to give an example of what I consider to be awake.

I arrive 5 minutes late for work. It's the 5th time this month. Traffic was bad. My boss gives me a sideways glance as I walk in, calls me over and asks me what happened, then tells me I need to work on my punctuality in the future.

This is what I imagine an empath observes in that situation: "Wow she is pissed, I can feel how pissed she is. I'd better not be late again this week or she will really lose her shit."

This is what I observe in that situation: "She's wearing a maroon blouse, that means it's her time of the month. Her left eye squinted a little as she was talking, she has a headache and it's stressing her out. She looked around the room as she was addressing me, she wants an audience, she wants to assert her authority publicly because she feels she is not taken seriously as a manager as a result of her gender. She looked over to the CEO's chair, made sure he wasn't within earshot. She knows he respects me a great deal and doesn't want to upset me by complaining about something as trivial as traffic. Her eyes get bigger at the end of her complaint, she wants to appear softer and repair the damage she has done to our relationship, and to remind me that she actually likes me but needs to be seen to be reprimanding me else everybody else will start breaking rules, especially with me being such an influential figure in this office. She smiles a large, genuine smile as I walk away and she thanks me, she is desperate for me not to pollute anybody against her. She has suddenly realized my influence, as the initial fog of anger and hormones has subsided. She has remembered that I make the company more money than she does. She is petrified I will turn against her. I can be late as often as I like."