Being a sensitive person myself, I was always told to “suck it up” or “deal with it” to the point where I begin to drown myself in self-loathing for having to be born as one. Sometimes, even more so than others, I would think about myself badly if I did any trouble to my friends or is my emotions justifiable with my actions. So I induce an imposter syndrome upon myself to fit into the crowd (but even that did not go too well, people love to talk and point out things that are odd to them). To deal with my sensitivity can be mentally draining and makes me feel vulnerable, especially when I am the type to build up my inner thoughts until it eventually bursts into another concoction that I will later regret ever throwing a fit in. Trust me, it is as complicated as it gets, but having a sensitivity does not mean it is not controllable.
Here are the ways to embrace your sensitive nature with open arms:
Take a breather
One thing about taking care of yourself is to not strain yourself to the max. A sensitive person is quick to detect or respond to slight changes, signals, or influences. Therefore, it can possibly cause your mental well-being to be overloaded with many kinds of things at once. You deserve all the rest you need (as long as it is smart and organized) to recollect yourself from the overwhelming emotions it takes to see eye to eye with the surroundings (be it people, hustle and bustle of town like Gombak, loud atmosphere, etc).
Understand Your Sensitive Cocoon
Observe your pattern – what gives you a pinch, can drain you or how can you get back on track, both your emotion management and professional work. Nevertheless, there are many mechanisms you can try to hold the waters of your sensitivity into your grasp of control. Meditation works wonders and can provide the balance you need for both physical and psychological. As for me, I would sit in my comfy studio room at Damansara Perdana and listen to podcasts about sensitivity on Spotify, such as ‘The Highly Sensitive Person’ Podcast.
Heal Your Scar
To live through the decades of your life being treated like a fragile and overly sensitive person can put a dent in your identity. Let it grow further and your future endeavors will be more difficult and cause darker experiences in your lifetime (relationship problems, mental health deterioration, addiction, etc.). To prevent that from blossoming any further, have someone you trust by your side to talk it out or seek any support that can aid you in self-reflection to contemplate the best path for your healing journey.
Prioritize Yourself
As a sensitive person, you care more about people around you than yourself. However, a time in the future will happen when it will come off at tiresome and be conflicted about yourself and the people around you in terms of importance. Give yourself all the deserving credit by thinking about yourself. Reward your hard work for striving thus far with self-care. Get a good night’s sleep (a complete 8 hours at that), cry it out when there is a lot to bottled up or take a walk with nature around you or treat yourself to a vacation tour at Batu Caves.
Sensitivity is not a curse, but a gift of compassion – you can empathize, be creative, pay attention to detail and bring quality into everything you create. What I mean is, you can understand the people around you more deeply than normal. To categorize sensitivity under the same column as toughness is not the case because both do not hold the correlation between them. Being sensitive is a strength, not a weakness. Having such traits should not be looked down upon as it shows how compassionate you can be for others and especially for your own self-worth.
It is these particular traits that birthed the world’s best writers (e.g: Edgar Allan Poe), actors and actresses (e.g: Nicole Kidman), artists (e.g: Leonardo da Vinci), therapists, coaches, interior designers, and caretakers.
