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- From Flaw To Super Power: How Sensitivity Creates Meaning
From Flaw To Super Power: How Sensitivity Creates Meaning
Have you ever felt the jolt of happiness from listening to a song, or the nostalgia that comes with the smell of certain foods? And have you ever felt sad after watching a movie or the news? This is your mind giving you instant feedback on your environment. I say mind and not brain, because your mind is more than just your brain. It’s the whole network of neurons in—and even outside—your body. Science still doesn’t know where the mind or consciousness originates, where it arises in your body, or where it ends.
Before we climb further down that rabbit hole, I’ll leave it there and segue into a phenomenon I believe is becoming more common, especially with the younger generation: highly sensitive people.
If you’re an HSP, you know how certain seemingly mundane things can completely derail your emotional state. For most people who are highly sensitive, it often feels like they’re not from this world. They have to function in a system built on soulless productivity and efficiency. At some point, I couldn’t even listen to some of my friends’ success and money-making stories anymore, because I saw how they were wrecking their bodies and relationships for the sake of money.
You could say it’s envy—and maybe it is, because when you feel like an alien, you just want to belong. But there was another aspect that hit me even more deeply: meaning. At some point in my journey, I couldn’t just go on making money if it wasn’t connected to the well-being of others.
So I turned my business around and created a new mission. Instead of just brokering freelancers to companies, I decided to make it a platform for people who wanted to free themselves from the chains of the 9-to-5. A community that would attract people with a similar mindset. In the last three years, our members have doubled, and every onboarding call I have feels magical, because somehow we’re attracting exactly the kind of conscious humans this community needs.
Reality isn’t black and white, though. I can’t say that just because something triggers me, it’s “bad.” For me, it’s a truth-seeking process. Whenever something triggers me in my environment, I ask myself why. In the case of soulless money-making, I know it’s the high idealism of my personality. Other times, it’s not so clear.
As a highly sensitive person, I’ve had to learn—and am still learning—that I have to manage my response to triggers more than most people. My anxiety disorder showed me how deeply I was wired for negative thinking, and how trying to “fix” my anxiety only added tension to my nervous system. It just confirmed my negative patterns.
If you’re sensitive, you need to learn that your boundaries are porous—and it’s not others doing this to you, but you letting them. Learning to become less reactive is a superpower everyone needs, but it’s essential for HSPs.
Here’s the silver lining: Sensitivity isn’t a flaw; it’s an invitation. You feel more—yes, more pain, but also more awe, more beauty, more meaning. It’s your mind and body’s way of demanding a life that’s real, not just efficient or productive. When you stop fighting your sensitivity and start treating it as your compass, you become the kind of person who can build community, create meaning, and lead others out of numbness.
My anxiety and sensitivity didn’t ruin my life—they forced me to build a real one. I used to think I needed thicker skin; now I know I just needed deeper roots. If you feel too much, don’t let anyone tell you it’s a weakness. It’s a wild superpower, and the world is quietly waiting for you to use it.
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