About a month ago now I left Muscat to go to my first conference in Berlin, called ALIVE. So many people in the entrepreneurial community preach the benefits of conferences for connection, networking and learning experiences I wanted to experience this for myself.
During the welcome activities we were called to gaze into another’s eyes for several minutes without looking away. I got really teary eyed during my first encounter. After this, we were asked to admit to something we knew we need to hold ourselves accountable to in our lives. For me, this was honoring my need to make art, on my own terms, for myself. I am a people pleaser by nature and often my art is commandeered by this instinct and desire to connect with and help others. I feel as if I’ve lost a piece of myself by making art only for others.
Trying to speak this out loud, after such an emotionally connecting experience, I couldn’t speak. I was so filled with emotion I gasped for air as I stuttered that desire out to my newly found friends, tears rolling down my cheeks. That’s when I was told I may be an HSP. It was the third time this idea came up on my radar, so I decided to learn more about it.
What is HSP?
Each and every day our brain filters through information. There is only so much information that our brain can take in and the only way we can function is because of the special filtering ability of our mind. Some people are more or less reception to outside stimuli because of their brain’s filtering abilities. Highly Sensitive People, or HSP, have brains that filter less of this information and thus, can be more easily (over)stimulated than their non-HSP peers. This means HSPs are able to observe subtle changes in environments that others may not notice at all.
How does your brain filter through the world around you?
It takes me more than once to really hear advice sometimes. After hearing for the third time I should read more about HSP I picked up Elaine Aron’s book Highly Sensitive People. Aron breaks down qualities of HSPs and looks at research that informs our understanding of being HSP. The more I read, the more I saw clear connections to being HSP and creativity. In fact, many artists and makers are HSPs.
Are you an HSP?
Not sure if you are HSP? Take this free quiz to help you find out. Some characteristics of being a HSP include: feeling other people’s feelings, often being told you are “too sensitive,” crowded places can feeling overwhelming, and a clear need for alone time.
Takeaway for Creatives
One concern Aron mentions for artists is that as many of us create alone, this withdrawal increases our sensitivity and thus makes us more sensitive when we need to “show our work, perform it, explain it, sell it, read reviews of it, and accept rejection or acclaim. Then there’s the sense of loss and confusion when a major work is done or a performance is over.”
How do we move from the solitude of creation to the public sphere of sharing and promoting our work?
This means it is super important for creatives to prepare themselves physically and mentally for those public moments.
3 Strategies for Coping with HSP Sensibilities
Maintain a constant presence on social media: it is one way to be engaged in a more public setting. This can help us grow that thicker skin for our big moments of performance, showing our art, or receiving criticism.
Create a ritual for the end of your project. How can you celebrate the end of a project and also give yourself an opportunity for the grief you feel when it’s over? How can you navigate the sometimes overwhelming feeling of “what’s next?”
Create a celebratory burning of your sketchbook planning pages, or invite friends over to celebrate the work (friends are a safe, comfortable starting point to reengaging in the more public sphere).
Be prepared for the emotions that come your way. There may be no one way that helps you cope with the transition from being in your withdrawn world of your artist mind and the public sphere we must engage with at some point. If that is the case, create moments of comfort and withdrawal in and during those more public celebratory moments.
For example, before or after your art opening, why not have 30 minutes to one hour of meditation or quiet reflection? Or, say you know you have a review coming out about your newest novel, why not arrange a massage or yoga class for after reading those reviews? Brainstorm a list of different experiences that feeling pampering and refer to that list in times of need.
Aron suggests, “Indeed, accepting the loneliness that goes with giftedness may be the more freeing, empowering step of all.” It is in those moments of quiet flow and withdrawal from the world that our best ideas can come to us. Be present in those moments and cherish the sweet and sometimes subtle ache of artist solitude.
Do you relate to Aron’s description of solitude?
To Read or Not To Read…
I recommend Elaine Aron’s Highly Sensitive People if you have a HSP in your life or if you believe yourself to be one. She offers concrete advice about navigating our sensitivity and reframes the trait as a sign of strength. Sometimes her approach is so soft-handed in her explanations and activities that I felt a bit babied through the process. I do appreciate her quiet determination to prove that HSP is not a weakness, but a trait we need to better acknowledge, develop and maintain in ourselves for our health, happiness and creativity.
Are you a creative who is also HSP? 3 Strategies for Coping with HSP Sensibilities (Click to Tweet)
BE COURAGEOUSLY CREATIVE: As a creative, what strategies do you use to transition from the solitude of creative process to showcasing in the public sphere? I want to know! Tell me about it in the comments below.
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Thanks for this post, Carrie. About 6 months ago, when doing some personality investigation, I realized I was a HSP. For years, people said I was too sensitive and my last boss criticized me for not taking direct feedback. It has been so helpful learning about who I am and why I create. I also recently stumbled upon Aron’s book at the library and plan to read it along with Susan Cain’s Quiet.
Hi Melanie, I loved reading Quiet, it was really informative for me. And I do feel more justified feeling as I do knowing how HSPs operate. We are often told what we do as HSPs means something is wrong with us when really no one has taught us how to work to our strengths! Let me know what you think of Quiet.
I only checked 4 boxes in that test, but I already knew I’m not an HSP. I do have other things draining me though, and I know other people who are HSP’s, so I’ll share this wherever I can.
Linda that sounds great. Thank you for spreading the word!
Thanks Carrie… I already knew i was a HSP… but this help me a lot… because it´s always hard to me to show me in public… i love to create, but i dont like to do it with public and i dont like to hear what they think about my work.
Eduardo you are most welcome. Baby steps for yourself. And take measures to care for and appreciate your HSP qualities so you help yourself in those moments of showcasing and promoting your art. 🙂
Thanks for this post – one of my favorite topics as a writer and publisher. Creativity coach Lisa Riley, LMFT comments she has “encountered a connection between highly sensitive people and their own creative impulses.
“Creatives often feel and perceive more intensely, dramatically, and with a wildly vivid color palate to draw from, which can only be described as looking at the world through a much larger lens.” – From my post Being Sensitive and Creative http://highlysensitive.org/434/being-sensitive-and-creative/
Douglas great quote thank you for sharing. I’ll be sure to take a peek at that article!
I finally got a chance to read this post you mentioned from the Artist Think facebook page when I asked you what HSP was. I was surprised to see I checked 22 of the questions on the quiz. People have just always told me I’m very creative, shy, tend to overreact, and that I have a calming effect on people in stressful situations. I’ve never thought of myself as “sensitive”, just more aware of things around me. Now that I’ve read your article and the one mentioned by Douglas Eby, I’d like to check out Elaine Aron’s book and learn more about HSP. Thank you for bringing this up on the fb page.
Lynnita I’m glad I could introduce you to Aron’s book. It gave me a lot of insight about my creative practice and my life in general. When you read it let me know in the FB group I’d love to hear your takeaways!
I’ll do that. I have the book on hold through the library. There’s another person ahead of me, so it might be another month before I can check the book out.
Sounds good. I hope you enjoy it. 🙂
i learned about HSPs about a year ago. It explained everything. I’m still orienting myself to this reality, accepting some of the more difficult aspects, and trying to see the superpowers for what they are. These are great insights, that you’ve listed here. Gonna implement some of these immediately. Thank you!!!
Mandy I wish I had found out about this years ago for both my art and my heart! I’m glad you found my takeaways helpful. As always I’m grateful for your readership. 🙂
How timely, Carrie. For the past few months, in a job with a difficult boss, I’ve been questioning why I feel physically sick after a disagreement, or why the huge amount of adrenaline needed to talk to her. I’ve been told throughout my life I need to grow a thicker skin, a spine, just let things go. I’m tired of being made to feel ‘abnormal’, weak, and wish the rest of the world were more sensitive. The decision has just been made for me, I’ve been fired,not because I can’t do the job, but because I can’t cope with her chaotic style. I realise now is the time to stop trying to fit what other people want and do things that suit me. I haven’t been able to focus on my art for many years despite people telling me I should. Scary, scary, but I’ll definitely try to find this book. Many thanks. I don’t feel so alone.
Mel, I’m so sorry to hear about your experience. A lot of our world is built for people who are not HSP and thus, we have to build systems and structures to help us navigate the world we live in. I hope you find that niche where people celebrate you because of your unique disposition rather than ask you to change it. <3 You are most definitely NOT alone.
Best wishes to you. Carrie
Hi Carrie – since I’m working on Soulbrush session #7, i’ve been reading all the bonus material and came across this blog post. I didn’t think I would come out as an HSP, even though most of my early years I was told I was “too sensitive” and suffered from what I now know is social phobia. I made a career out of the sensitivity that I had and became a psychiatric nurse and later a psychotherapist. I am now retired and happily happily pursuing art. I am starting to feel tearful just writing this. The last quote from Aron about embracing our loneliness struck a very deep cord in me. At the age of 71, I have come to terms with being alone and don’t feel sad about it anymore. I have decided that it has a silver lining and I now have the luxury of doing whatever I want with my days, being as creative as I choose to be, as messy as I choose in my space and have no one to answer to but myself. there are people in my life I love very much like my son and a few very close friends. But my new love is Art and I recognize that if I’m lucky I will have two or three decades to explore it. I am so grateful to you Carrie for your contribution and finding people like me to empower. I imagine you hear compliments when you’re in the social media arena and it’s probably difficult to know how sincere they are. But I am telling you that you have made a difference in my life and my confidence and pursuing Art at this “late” stage in my life.
I miss that dictation it was supposed to be “imagining” not “matching’.
Barbara your note here means so much to me. Thank you. I’m so grateful I get to work with people like you. What a blessing it is! I hope you have decades of artistic discovery and joy in your life, you deserve nothing less. ❤️❤️
yes i am an HSP and an introvert (INFJ), double whammy;) The Elaine Aron book is excellent!
Carole I’m both too!
Carrie,being both HSP & an introvert is challenging. It’s art that rejuvenates me when I’ve had too much stimulation,drained by too much ‘peopling’, exposed to too much noise etc.
I scored “18” I am highly sensitive. what makes me the most sensitive is a soldier returning home commercials. when I came home there was no one to welcome me home. oh well, the past is over. time to proceed to the future