“Highly sensitive people are too often perceived as weaklings or damaged goods. To feel intensely is not a symptom of weakness, it is the trademark of the truly alive and compassionate. ” Anthon St. Maarten

Bring me a sensitive soul and I will show them their enormous, world-changing, brilliant worth. The highly sensitive people of this world are my people and that has become evident over the last ten years, especially in my work.

It breaks my heart when people are asked to be less sensitive or feel that their sensitivity is a burden or defect. It truly saddens me that it is seen by many as a weakness rather than the beautiful, brilliant, gift. 

The kindest people often have big hearts and complex emotional lives and they are the people who can often sense the pain and the suffering of others. The kindest are often the most sensitive. They may suffer with depression, they may be viewed as very emotional, they may cry at the drop of a hat, they may struggle to watch graphic films and they may sit in almost physical pain watching the news unfold. These people bring me hope about the future and about life.

Yet many people ridicule and mock these sensitive souls and try and make them feel like they need to change. I believe the main problem in the world right now, is that most people are only sensitive to themselves and their needs and desires. Especially when it comes to the climate and ecological crisis we are facing.

I believe that we can all make the world a better place and that we have more power and agency than we can even begin to comprehend. However, there is something that I am worried may be happening. I am starting to think that if a sensitive soul sees their sensitivity as a weakness then they may make huge efforts to cut it off and if they succeed, something tragic can happen. They can stop caring. I think this is a huge loss for the individual concerned and for everyone else, if this happens.

I believe that it is important and beneficial for us to try and keep being sensitive to the world and the suffering and destruction around us. This is where kindness lives, this is where compassion is found, this is where humanity will find solace, comfort, and healing through connection and community. This is where love comes from.

When we can manage and protect our sensitivity, we can use it to create a good life and help other people in the world. That is what I have done and that is what I do in my work as a therapist, researcher and writer. I try and use my sensitivity and my empathy to help others create better lives. It is a wonderful thing to be able to do, as the results are often beautiful to watch. 

If we are going to make the world a better place for everyone, we must encourage more people to care about others as opposed to making people feel defective or wrong for caring and being highly sensitive. This sensitivity to the needs, feelings, and experiences of others is so important for connection and for our collective survival. 

I am a highly sensitive person. I feel things very deeply and profoundly. I feel it all, but I love that part of myself.

It makes me feel alive, it makes me feel receptive, it communicates to me very strongly with regards to my environment, the people around me and the situations in which I find myself . It is something that I have found difficult to manage at times but the more I increase my self-awareness and the more I reflect and explore my personality the easier it is to accept and to work with.

This sensitivity is where my greatest strength lies and my strength is in working and supporting other people. If you were to remove my sensitivity, you would remove my ability to connect and to support people to live more fulfilling lives. 

I have met people who have felt compassion for a lonely biscuit on a plate, people who worry about throwing out old clothes, and lots and lots of people who have been criticized for being too emotional, too sensitive, too kind. Too kind?  We need all the kindness we can get. It takes a very strong and brave person to be kind in this world, at this time when kindness is often considered weakness by those who are cruel.

I have met people who don’t sleep properly for weeks because of a scary film, the ones who sit through the news weeping. These people will sound strange to some but to me I know that they are the most compassionate and kind hearted people we have. They are the people who will find the wounds in this world, sense the pain in a person standing beside them and do whatever they can to alleviate that suffering.

We need these sensitive souls to stay sensitive. So if you ever find yourself being told that “you are too sensitive”. Stop, stand up for yourself and your beautiful sensitivity and respond with; “maybe you are not sensitive enough”. 

“Highly sensitive beings suffer more but they also love harder, dream wider, and experience deeper horizons and bliss. When you’re sensitive, you’re alive in every sense of this word in this wildly beautiful world. Sensitivity is your strength. Keep soaking in the light and spreading it to others.”  Victoria Erickson