person: what do you do?
me: I help sensitive, empathic, and gifted folks learn to slow down, work with helping spirits, and live a magical life. it’s awesome!
person: why would you want to work with ‘sensitive people?’ aren’t they just fragile flowers who need to grow a thicker skin?
me: deep breath… 😉
‘beauty as a booster shot of goodness’
there’s a misconception that ‘sensitive people’ or ‘empaths’ or ‘people who love spirituality’ are fragile, need to be handled with gloves, are a downer, ungrounded in daily life, or too tender to be able to have fun. gah!
in fact, those of us who are sensitive, empathic, gifted, and who love working in the beautiful world of spirit are just built differently than the average bear. and we’re pretty lovely…
even though we can feel isolated or misunderstood by how sensitive we are, out in the wild.
let’s just name it – there are daily disadvantages to having sensitive gifts (loud noises, bright lights, mean people, violence in media, messy spaces, multitasking, chaotic energy, constant energy tugs, I see you!)…
but there are huge, brilliant, juicy advantages, too.
the one I’d like to celebrate with you in this article is how much (literally, physically) sensitives respond to BEAUTY AS MEDICINE.
fun fact: roughly 20% of the population is some version of highly sensitive. fMRI shows that there’s more blood flow to the parts of a sensitive person’s brain that respond with empathy to stimuli – which beyond the obvious potential ‘ouch’ factor in a human world, brings in some really good news for us:
we sensitives and empaths can intentionally use beauty like balm, to help us navigate our lives. think of beauty like a ‘booster shot of goodness’ that you welcome to your great advantage.
beauty in your daily life is not just ‘nice to be around’ but essential and healing for sensitives. beauty can be medicine.
as empaths, starseeds, sensitives, and gifted ones, we feel everything – the good, the bad, and the ‘many blessings’ to our literal core. just as a traumatic image impacts us deeply and can stay with us for decades (I could draw a painful image for you I saw at age 8 all these decades later, with picture perfect accuracy, ouch)…so does beauty nourish our deepest and most sacred places (similarly, I could weave words to bring you into a scene from a ballet that still moves me to elated tears decades after seeing it).
this means our sensitivities and gifts can turn something ‘pretty’ or ‘lovely’ or ‘beautiful’ into something sacred, holy, nourishing, inspiring, life-saving, or deeply healing.
knowing this turns wielding beauty as healer for our sensitive hearts into a powerful tool.
magical mini tip: quick beauty inventory & fun fix
this is a super fast exercise to support empaths, sensitives, and gifted ones with beauty as a support tool. please send your brilliant brain out for a mani-pedi for a minute, and let your heart and intuition respond:
Q1:
what’s something that makes you feel good No Matter What when you see it? (kittens, fresh flowers, nature, your kids, art, otters, starshine…)
Q2:
what’s the space you spend the most time every day? (ex: office, living room, car, garden, etc)
Q3:
how does this place you spend the most daily time rate in terms of beauty, on a scale of ‘ugh…meh…pretty okay…yesyes!’
Q4:
what’s the simplest, easiest way you can add what makes you Happy No Matter What into the space you spend the most time? (ex: beautiful plant next to your computer, picture of your dog in your car, large picture of nature in your bedroom, lightcatcher crystal in the window you gaze through most, etc)
great job! now go forth and add this small, tangible beauty in the space you spend the most time. make a note in your calendar if you can’t do it right now.
because…
here’s the deal: you won’t ‘see’ the fresh flowers on your 50th pass by them, or the plush stuffie of a flamingo, or the graceful bonsai, or the light glinting off the elegant handcarved wood bowl.
but your heart and spirit will.
these little visual gifts to yourself as a sensitive add up over time, and help you build resiliency and grace in the face of intensity in our times. and the more grounded in beauty – which is the ‘booster shot of goodness’ in everyday life that calms a sensitive nervous system – the closer your magical life is.
beauty as medicine isn’t ‘luxury’ or ‘nice to have.’ sensitives, empaths, starseeds, and gifted ones are vital and essential to the web of life – and when we’re resourced and living in magical ways, our being-ness (and kind words and deeds) are a gift to creation. lovely, yes?
love,
anna