My issue is not so much in knowing myself, But rather that I don't always know how to bring that person into the world. I was speaking to a wonderful coach today who at the end of the session said 'are you familiar with or do you identify with the term highly sensitive person?' To which I grinned and said 100%! I feel my self awareness and ability to reflect, process and understand is, well, pretty good actually. My difficulty comes in applying these things. Sharing them. Bringing them into the mainstream world. I understand and accept that I'm a highly sensitive person. I know its actually a superpower rather than a weakness. But how do I bring that forward and share that with others? In a world that's fast and demanding, how do I tell colleagues actually I find it challenging having live debates, and can I go away and reflect and come back in written form in an hour with much more value? How do I reinforce the boundaries I know I need? Being in bed by 10pm (ideally 8 or 9!) Needing to be alone for a large % of time, needing to carefully consider my diet and those I spend time with? Needing to connect with people and build trust over time? And I know and accept that I carry ancestral trauma, generational patterns and pick up on energies of others. But how do I share that my delicate mental (and holistic) health is influenced by all these things, and actually I just don't feel good in a particular space or with a particular person? How can these acute, deep individual differences be brought forward and embraced in a world which loves to categorise, reason and generalise? How can I really stop people pleasing and lacking in confidence when actually I pick up on people's disappointment, sadness and confusion? And then I realised. All I can do is my best. Keep trying. Keep learning. Keep sharing. Keep showing up. And keep talking about these things. Because the power in sharing is huge. It gives others permission to do the same too. I read an article the other day by someone who looked like me. She identified herself as a non black person of colour. Whilst I have always struggled with labels, I realise in some ways these (new) labels we can give ourselves can actually help - With a sense of belonging, identity, community, connecting, understanding. We don't have to confirm to traditional labels that other people try to give us. But we can find our own power and use them in ways that serve us - perhaps finding our tribe and having a heart to heart with someone who gets it. The more we can connect with others and share what is true and real and present for us here and now - the more life our experiences are given - and the more they are acknowledged and talked about and embraced and understood by others. And gradually, together - we create change. So here I am sharing my non black person of colour, highly sensitive (and many other things) self. And I'd love to know - have you found any labels recently that actually help you (rather than constrict you) in understanding yourself and enable you to connect with others in a similar reality? Please share as they may help me (or someone else) too! Here's some of mine that I'm currently exploring and reflecting on: - Highly sensitive person - Empath - Non-black person of colour - Multi-racial P.s. Labels can definitely be limiting and not always necessary - I generally tend to try to avoid them. There are so many multi- faceted layers and depths to our identity and being and I'm not suggesting we limit or restrict ourselves to certain labels. Ultimately I acknowledge that I am a human and don't need to explain or justify myself or my existence any more than that - but currently it's helpful for me to dive into some of these layers, and that's OK too.