This post leaves me breathless with heartache. When I was growing up my father worked in a state psychiatric hospital. I was highly sensitive and it took decades to process what came home with him from that place. I grew up in terror, but I knew that I didn’t wanna end up in one of those places. Decades later I went through in voluntary reenactments of some of the things my father was a part of in treatment plans at the hospital that he never ever spoke about. a decade after that my best friend decided to voluntarily enter one of these institutions. I told her on the day she was heading in that she wanted to change her mind she could and she could come stay with me. She did get in, and she got out and when she got out she said to me… That place was full of people just like us! And she gosh about how amazing it was to be surrounded by sensitive spiritual people. I have long been in condemnation about these places. Some of my most viral work talks about some of these practices, both culturally and so-called Treatments which is nothing more than an adaptation of barbaric torture from medieval times. I think this is a very important piece of work, written with so much heart and soul. So many of us die after enduring decades of terror and agony without support, without anyone to teach us or validate us or to hold us… And I deeply appreciate the description of being here to do something specific and selfless only to be tortured to death, abandoned, or left to starve because our medicine though unique and masterful is not valued as much as a concert ticket or sometimes even a cup ofgourmet coffee. If we cannot survive, we cannot fulfill our purpose. Thank you for this deeply compassionate article… I hope it goes viral
Dear Alison.. I feel every word of your comment. I am so grateful for your sharing of your experiences and pray that your voice is heard loud and clear. Please keep writing about your father, and you, if you can. We need to hear stories like yours.
Adi, thank you. You speak for an entire collective with these words. I feel this plea for a different perspective, a paradigm shift. Forever being labeled as this or that, I have researched the gifts that accompany the different kind of existence sensitives have. I, too, imagine a world where there are embraced rather than snuffed out. I sometimes feel as though I have spent more time fighting for my life than actually living, because of the constant effort and courage it takes to make it in a world so clearly guarded against difference. It’s a beautiful thing that we can find one another in small pockets of time space and feel, if only for a moment, that we are not alone and can muster the strength to keep going. I feel the weight of the world losing yet another beautiful sensitive soul, and I send vibrations of comfort to you and those connected to his spirit. 🙏🤍
Taryn it is a paradigm shift. It is said that such souls have come to break down old constructs, although sometimes at great cost. Thank you for your offer of comfort. I do trust in the wider view, and the perfection of the roles we all play. <3
I’ve spent time in the psych ward as I like to refer to it. I did a lot of writing there. It literally saved my life. Thank you for this beautiful article and I am sorry for your loss.
Yes, these are my people. While walking the halls together, someone mentioned how hard it was to talk to “normal” people. We laughed. And to a person, such inner strength, and I agree that they are shamans. Thanks for your piece. Helpful to read that today.
I totally believe what you said about mental health issues and sensitivity. I too consider myself a very sensitive soul. Life is just too harsh for me and I suffer a lot. I consider myself an orchid; if the environment isn‘t aligned, I can‘t bloom. When I was pregnant I think I went through a spiritual awakening and I went to the psychiatrist because it scared the hell out of me. I think I was just so sensitive that I felt everything, all the energies, and it was too much for me. I struggle immensely, trying to navigate this life of mine, not knowing where I thrive, where I belong and what to do with my gifts.
Oh my heart is with you Zuzu.. you are telling the story of so many of my loved ones, clients and friends, and of myself. When I was a teenager I told my mother I needed to see a psychiatrist and, bless her heart, despite her reservations she sent me to a GP for a referral. The GP said the same thing, there's nothing wrong with you, but I insisted and finally got my wish. I discovered in the exercise that he was unable to help me, being a very old-school Freudian, although he brought my mother in for a joint session with me, which was quite a remarkable experience. I learned that psychology was not my answer, and that I was simply a different kind of being and so felt very alone in the world. It's an existential question, and I believe part of every spiritual awakening. I'll be sharing much more about this in days to come Zuzu, so let's stay in touch. I have a whole community of Sensitives and Old Souls. We are out there. Please know you are not alone.
I've experienced many of the things you describe - many diagnoses, many years drooling on meds barely knowing my own name, a decade to come off, the electro-shock treatment, months in secure units and then newer diagnoses and the talk of newer understanding and then different meds and then finally, my understanding that I don't need fixing. I am different. Maybe not really 'human' in the same way as most others but that's a good thing.
Actually I'm not insane and I never have been. I experience this world differently and know there are many others. I'm not wired into the collective and so I see your soul. And I bring loving compassion and awareness and change those around me. I'm lucky that I escaped the system and started my own journey of understanding. Many haven't been that lucky and some of them were my friends. I'd agree that 400 years ago I'd not have many of the difficulties I have now because I'd have been able to live as the wise woman who lived alone in the forest but who everyone went to for wisdom despite being a little bit afraid of her. Or maybe I'd have been burned at the stake. Tbh I'm not sure whether that's worse than the thirty years I spent in the psych system until I escaped with the 'Neurodivergent' label. I suspect not.
SkyDancer my heart goes out to you. What a triumph to have not only prevailed, but found yourself whole after all you have been through. I have no doubt your wisdom will support others on similar journeys, as they read your words.
Maybe so, I don't know but I need to say thank you for writing that. Thank you for seeing us. Sending joy and love and reminding you that love is always there and it connects all things.
Oh I feel so deeply seen Adi. As a psychotherapist and modern mystic I have now claimed and earned this title !! Unrelated to all of this Article. The regime is deep and the acute grief it strikes in us sensitive is agonising at times . Altered states is the ordinary extraordinary here , I live rooted in the liminal and two worlds who are trying to merge into one seamless reality
It s been tough agonising and totally isolating
It seems to be the path for many of us . Because we are invited to embed and anchor in being IN this world but not of it. And yet we need community and like minded tribes circles villages . I’m glad to find your words . Balm for my soul.
You are indeed seen. I have seen your work and it's wonderful. I love your words here too. We do need one another to hold on to what sanity we have lol.. We are kindred spirits.
Adi, I want to offer my most transparent reply, but where are my words? Let me still myself and listen. I see the red-haired boy, smiling, collapsed, falling. Seeing, for me, is feeling, so I feel for him, his family, for you who love him and wish you could have done more… .
For me, for us, the world is too loud. We cannot fathom cruelty upon cruelty. We do not understand why the essential is ignored. Et Cetera. This causes much pain.
Also, for me, is the suffering of feeling absolutely alone. Those like us have been scattered like rare seeds throughout the world, but too often we search for each other in vain. At least that's my experience.
Also, also, we have abundant gifts, but how to use them? Where? With whom? I grieve that my gifts slip too-little used through the years of my life.
I thank you for the grace of your article! It brought and brings me many gifts: Tears at dawn, blending with a warm feeling that there are others like me in the world, that we long to find each other, that in the finding will create many verses of human poetry.
Dear J.. You are so not alone. We are many, and in these days of profound upheaval, we are finding one another and daring to honour our way of being as never before. We are not only purposeful but valuable, as way-showers and those who hold a frequency of beauty and truth. I'm glad to have met you here.
This resonated deeply with me. I spent time hospitalized in a psych ward because of an unground spiritual awakening and the fellow Sensitive people I met that were being pathologized by the medical industrial complex that says these experiences are nothing more than a diagnosis makes me crave a return to the communities that would hold and uplift Sensitive people in all of our ecstatic states
Many of the sensitives in this realm are tortured in various ways, as it is run by malevolent beings (archons and negative ETs). It is all by design, sadly.
Liana I agree, this is a powerful element at play. I have seen it with my own eyes. But at the most expansive level, I believe there is nothing outside of our Creator's design, and as fractals of Creator, we are here to learn to choose. :)
I feel this on a soul level. I am a highly sensitive person (HSP) which I learned about through the work of Dr. Elaine Aron. She says that 20% of people are this way, they have increased depth processesing. What this means is, I am a sponge, I feel everything. I grew up with a lot of privilege, and have been fortunate enough to learn about energy medicine, which allowed me to balance my energetic body, and literally saved my life.
Being an HSP has many overlaps to being autistic. I have worked professionally in childcare, specifically to support a boy who was high functioning autistic, and I remember being just amazed by some of the things he said-he was able to see the world as it is, without any BS, I remember thinking, “this kid,is meant to go far,” but he did have trouble functioning on a daily basis, in part because the classroom had fluorescent lights. I didn’t have the words to explain this to the staff members, but I wish I had. I think i am making myself to be a bridge like that.
oh we need bridges like you Julianna.. And yes, the overlaps are very clear for me. Sensitivity to fragrances, fabrics, confining clothing, flickering lights, loud music/noise, foods etc., the suffering of others, the understanding of how animals and plants feel... It's interesting how so many are only seen as negative, when comparable gifts are so clear.
I was born psychic, so as a toddler i was pointing out ghosts in the room and other "unacceptable" things... i learned quickly to keep my mouth shut. My dad at one point said something about shock treatments to me. He was in the medical field. That was it. I felt crazy, but somehow i came in very strong and when i was old enough to leave home... i never looked back. My siblings thinks i am nuts. I learned energy healing and studied all types of complimentory health, had a practice spanning over 35 years... what i see today is many more pathways have opened up for sensitives... but its still tricky. A fad to now label yourself harms spiritual growth if taken too seriously... but there are more opportunities to expand your knowledge of yourself and develop latent talents.
So many times, lonely times, i have "known" peoples unspoken thoughts and intentions .. many that were very ugly... yet knowing it, i could find ways to escape harm. Nurture each other. Gravitate towards those like you. There is where you know you are blessed and loved, and that God has a plan for you!
Thank you, I hear you about your childhood. Wonderful that you did not lose your gifts as you grew up. And sometimes I think it is a good sign when our siblings think we are nuts lol.. Usually there is one old soul in the family, and they lead the healing for everyone. I agree whole-heartedly re the labels. May awareness in the collective continue to grow, so that things are not so painful for Sensitives going forward, and may we all find our tribe.. I am blessed that way to have a community around me now. :)
So interesting. I just posted (again) about the chaos and overwhelming energies many sensitives are feeling right now. Your words are accurate - it's a BIG deal to not have any cultural support around this! Thank you for your voice.
This post leaves me breathless with heartache. When I was growing up my father worked in a state psychiatric hospital. I was highly sensitive and it took decades to process what came home with him from that place. I grew up in terror, but I knew that I didn’t wanna end up in one of those places. Decades later I went through in voluntary reenactments of some of the things my father was a part of in treatment plans at the hospital that he never ever spoke about. a decade after that my best friend decided to voluntarily enter one of these institutions. I told her on the day she was heading in that she wanted to change her mind she could and she could come stay with me. She did get in, and she got out and when she got out she said to me… That place was full of people just like us! And she gosh about how amazing it was to be surrounded by sensitive spiritual people. I have long been in condemnation about these places. Some of my most viral work talks about some of these practices, both culturally and so-called Treatments which is nothing more than an adaptation of barbaric torture from medieval times. I think this is a very important piece of work, written with so much heart and soul. So many of us die after enduring decades of terror and agony without support, without anyone to teach us or validate us or to hold us… And I deeply appreciate the description of being here to do something specific and selfless only to be tortured to death, abandoned, or left to starve because our medicine though unique and masterful is not valued as much as a concert ticket or sometimes even a cup ofgourmet coffee. If we cannot survive, we cannot fulfill our purpose. Thank you for this deeply compassionate article… I hope it goes viral
Dear Alison.. I feel every word of your comment. I am so grateful for your sharing of your experiences and pray that your voice is heard loud and clear. Please keep writing about your father, and you, if you can. We need to hear stories like yours.
Adi, thank you. You speak for an entire collective with these words. I feel this plea for a different perspective, a paradigm shift. Forever being labeled as this or that, I have researched the gifts that accompany the different kind of existence sensitives have. I, too, imagine a world where there are embraced rather than snuffed out. I sometimes feel as though I have spent more time fighting for my life than actually living, because of the constant effort and courage it takes to make it in a world so clearly guarded against difference. It’s a beautiful thing that we can find one another in small pockets of time space and feel, if only for a moment, that we are not alone and can muster the strength to keep going. I feel the weight of the world losing yet another beautiful sensitive soul, and I send vibrations of comfort to you and those connected to his spirit. 🙏🤍
Taryn it is a paradigm shift. It is said that such souls have come to break down old constructs, although sometimes at great cost. Thank you for your offer of comfort. I do trust in the wider view, and the perfection of the roles we all play. <3
I’ve spent time in the psych ward as I like to refer to it. I did a lot of writing there. It literally saved my life. Thank you for this beautiful article and I am sorry for your loss.
Jennifer, oh my goodness I love happy endings. So wonderful that you were supported.
Yes, these are my people. While walking the halls together, someone mentioned how hard it was to talk to “normal” people. We laughed. And to a person, such inner strength, and I agree that they are shamans. Thanks for your piece. Helpful to read that today.
Good to meet you Suzanne. We have a special tribe. <3
I totally believe what you said about mental health issues and sensitivity. I too consider myself a very sensitive soul. Life is just too harsh for me and I suffer a lot. I consider myself an orchid; if the environment isn‘t aligned, I can‘t bloom. When I was pregnant I think I went through a spiritual awakening and I went to the psychiatrist because it scared the hell out of me. I think I was just so sensitive that I felt everything, all the energies, and it was too much for me. I struggle immensely, trying to navigate this life of mine, not knowing where I thrive, where I belong and what to do with my gifts.
Oh my heart is with you Zuzu.. you are telling the story of so many of my loved ones, clients and friends, and of myself. When I was a teenager I told my mother I needed to see a psychiatrist and, bless her heart, despite her reservations she sent me to a GP for a referral. The GP said the same thing, there's nothing wrong with you, but I insisted and finally got my wish. I discovered in the exercise that he was unable to help me, being a very old-school Freudian, although he brought my mother in for a joint session with me, which was quite a remarkable experience. I learned that psychology was not my answer, and that I was simply a different kind of being and so felt very alone in the world. It's an existential question, and I believe part of every spiritual awakening. I'll be sharing much more about this in days to come Zuzu, so let's stay in touch. I have a whole community of Sensitives and Old Souls. We are out there. Please know you are not alone.
I've experienced many of the things you describe - many diagnoses, many years drooling on meds barely knowing my own name, a decade to come off, the electro-shock treatment, months in secure units and then newer diagnoses and the talk of newer understanding and then different meds and then finally, my understanding that I don't need fixing. I am different. Maybe not really 'human' in the same way as most others but that's a good thing.
Actually I'm not insane and I never have been. I experience this world differently and know there are many others. I'm not wired into the collective and so I see your soul. And I bring loving compassion and awareness and change those around me. I'm lucky that I escaped the system and started my own journey of understanding. Many haven't been that lucky and some of them were my friends. I'd agree that 400 years ago I'd not have many of the difficulties I have now because I'd have been able to live as the wise woman who lived alone in the forest but who everyone went to for wisdom despite being a little bit afraid of her. Or maybe I'd have been burned at the stake. Tbh I'm not sure whether that's worse than the thirty years I spent in the psych system until I escaped with the 'Neurodivergent' label. I suspect not.
SkyDancer my heart goes out to you. What a triumph to have not only prevailed, but found yourself whole after all you have been through. I have no doubt your wisdom will support others on similar journeys, as they read your words.
Maybe so, I don't know but I need to say thank you for writing that. Thank you for seeing us. Sending joy and love and reminding you that love is always there and it connects all things.
Yes it is, and yes it does! 🙏🏻
Beautifully written truth that not many see. 🙏
Jason thank you. I do believe the world is awakening and more is revealed with every passing day. :)
As an HSP, I see it happening as well. Painfully so, but happening. 🙏
Oh I feel so deeply seen Adi. As a psychotherapist and modern mystic I have now claimed and earned this title !! Unrelated to all of this Article. The regime is deep and the acute grief it strikes in us sensitive is agonising at times . Altered states is the ordinary extraordinary here , I live rooted in the liminal and two worlds who are trying to merge into one seamless reality
It s been tough agonising and totally isolating
It seems to be the path for many of us . Because we are invited to embed and anchor in being IN this world but not of it. And yet we need community and like minded tribes circles villages . I’m glad to find your words . Balm for my soul.
You are indeed seen. I have seen your work and it's wonderful. I love your words here too. We do need one another to hold on to what sanity we have lol.. We are kindred spirits.
Adi, I want to offer my most transparent reply, but where are my words? Let me still myself and listen. I see the red-haired boy, smiling, collapsed, falling. Seeing, for me, is feeling, so I feel for him, his family, for you who love him and wish you could have done more… .
For me, for us, the world is too loud. We cannot fathom cruelty upon cruelty. We do not understand why the essential is ignored. Et Cetera. This causes much pain.
Also, for me, is the suffering of feeling absolutely alone. Those like us have been scattered like rare seeds throughout the world, but too often we search for each other in vain. At least that's my experience.
Also, also, we have abundant gifts, but how to use them? Where? With whom? I grieve that my gifts slip too-little used through the years of my life.
I thank you for the grace of your article! It brought and brings me many gifts: Tears at dawn, blending with a warm feeling that there are others like me in the world, that we long to find each other, that in the finding will create many verses of human poetry.
Dear J.. You are so not alone. We are many, and in these days of profound upheaval, we are finding one another and daring to honour our way of being as never before. We are not only purposeful but valuable, as way-showers and those who hold a frequency of beauty and truth. I'm glad to have met you here.
This resonated deeply with me. I spent time hospitalized in a psych ward because of an unground spiritual awakening and the fellow Sensitive people I met that were being pathologized by the medical industrial complex that says these experiences are nothing more than a diagnosis makes me crave a return to the communities that would hold and uplift Sensitive people in all of our ecstatic states
Oh Kaitlin I hear you. Yes.
Many of the sensitives in this realm are tortured in various ways, as it is run by malevolent beings (archons and negative ETs). It is all by design, sadly.
Liana I agree, this is a powerful element at play. I have seen it with my own eyes. But at the most expansive level, I believe there is nothing outside of our Creator's design, and as fractals of Creator, we are here to learn to choose. :)
I feel this on a soul level. I am a highly sensitive person (HSP) which I learned about through the work of Dr. Elaine Aron. She says that 20% of people are this way, they have increased depth processesing. What this means is, I am a sponge, I feel everything. I grew up with a lot of privilege, and have been fortunate enough to learn about energy medicine, which allowed me to balance my energetic body, and literally saved my life.
Being an HSP has many overlaps to being autistic. I have worked professionally in childcare, specifically to support a boy who was high functioning autistic, and I remember being just amazed by some of the things he said-he was able to see the world as it is, without any BS, I remember thinking, “this kid,is meant to go far,” but he did have trouble functioning on a daily basis, in part because the classroom had fluorescent lights. I didn’t have the words to explain this to the staff members, but I wish I had. I think i am making myself to be a bridge like that.
oh we need bridges like you Julianna.. And yes, the overlaps are very clear for me. Sensitivity to fragrances, fabrics, confining clothing, flickering lights, loud music/noise, foods etc., the suffering of others, the understanding of how animals and plants feel... It's interesting how so many are only seen as negative, when comparable gifts are so clear.
Thank you
I was born psychic, so as a toddler i was pointing out ghosts in the room and other "unacceptable" things... i learned quickly to keep my mouth shut. My dad at one point said something about shock treatments to me. He was in the medical field. That was it. I felt crazy, but somehow i came in very strong and when i was old enough to leave home... i never looked back. My siblings thinks i am nuts. I learned energy healing and studied all types of complimentory health, had a practice spanning over 35 years... what i see today is many more pathways have opened up for sensitives... but its still tricky. A fad to now label yourself harms spiritual growth if taken too seriously... but there are more opportunities to expand your knowledge of yourself and develop latent talents.
So many times, lonely times, i have "known" peoples unspoken thoughts and intentions .. many that were very ugly... yet knowing it, i could find ways to escape harm. Nurture each other. Gravitate towards those like you. There is where you know you are blessed and loved, and that God has a plan for you!
Thank you, I hear you about your childhood. Wonderful that you did not lose your gifts as you grew up. And sometimes I think it is a good sign when our siblings think we are nuts lol.. Usually there is one old soul in the family, and they lead the healing for everyone. I agree whole-heartedly re the labels. May awareness in the collective continue to grow, so that things are not so painful for Sensitives going forward, and may we all find our tribe.. I am blessed that way to have a community around me now. :)
Beautiful. Powerful, moving, and anchored in truth. Thank you.
Teresa thank you <3
So interesting. I just posted (again) about the chaos and overwhelming energies many sensitives are feeling right now. Your words are accurate - it's a BIG deal to not have any cultural support around this! Thank you for your voice.
https://erinreese.substack.com/p/new-moon-in-pisces-wtf-is-happening
Erin thank you for this. I am listening now and love it. We are on the same page. Subscribed.
I resonate with this deeply
Thank you for your reply Rebecca. Welcome to the world of my favourite people. We are not alone. <3