Let’s face it, we live in an insensitive world. We’re taught to think but not feel, speak but not act, and hear but not listen. Factory farming, climate change, war, poverty, climate change, poisoned oceans, and decimated rainforests are some of the dire consequences of an insensitive world.

I believe that we are all born sensitive. We are all born to love and to care. But our natural tendencies are counterproductive in the status quo world that awaits – ready to swallow us whole. In order to perpetuate the consumptive profit machine, our natural sensitivities must be eliminated. And so it goes, indoctrination into the beliefs, institutions, systems, and workflow that ensures our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual slavery.

But for some of us, our natural sensitivities prevail through it all. We are highly sensitive people. This sensitivity is cause for celebration in a world crying out for love.

The concept of the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) was discovered by psychotherapist Elaine N. Aron who authored the book, The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You. According to Aron, HSPs comprise 15-20% the population. I would surmise that there are far more of us as we wake up to the irreversible problems on this planet.

HSPs are easily overwhelmed by stimuli, are extremely perceptive and intuitive, are agitated by strong smells and loud noises, are sensitive to sugar, caffeine, drugs, alcohol, and pharmaceuticals, are overwhelmed in crowds, have rich internal lives, are highly compassionate and creative, have a deep love for animals and nature, and need ample alone and quiet time to maintain their sanity and equilibrium.

An HSP himself, Carl Jung observed that our innate sensitivity, “teaches the other possibility: the interior life which is so wanting in our civilization.” With such deep compassion and empathy, HSPs are visionaries who see the world in a more expansive way – noticing what most others miss. Many HSPs are healers, intuitive’s, artists, therapists, writers, philosophers and spiritual seekers.

Sadly, in an insensitive culture, many HSPs grew up with little understanding or appreciation for the loving, compassionate, and intuitive gifts they bring to the world. Fortunately, this is slowly changing. With yoga and meditation as mainstream pursuits, many people are rediscovering their kind, sensitive selves.

This week’s Unplug podcast guest, Danielle MacKinnon, is a sensitive woman who understands the challenge of embracing sensitivity in an insensitive world. As she writes on her website:

For as long as she could remember, Danielle MacKinnon felt different. She could walk into a room and “feel” negativity, she could sense when someone was secretly upset and she could even tell what animals were thinking. Unfortunately, growing up in a small Midwest town with a family that was afraid to draw attention to themselves, she was not in an environment that supported these differences. And like so many others, instead of exploring her differences, she tried to become as “normal” as possible.

Years later, with her BA in English and MBA in Entrepreneurship and Marketing in hand, Danielle lived a highly successful life in corporate America. However, something always seemed “off.” No matter how well she did, how successfully she managed her projects or how much praise she received, she still never felt completely satisfied with herself or with what she was doing with her life. It took the illness of her family pet to bring her the insight she needed to finally embrace her passion. To a chorus of disbelief from her family and friends, she walked away from the corporate life and opted to create her own version of “normal”…which was using her intuitive abilities to assist others.