My life as a high-sensitive artist

What do you need in your life to flourish? What are the right conditions for you to be able to bloom? I like to reflect on this applicable question now we're at the beginning of spring.

If you'd ask me what's important in my life to thrive, I'd probably tell you I need beauty, nature, stillness and profound conversations. Although my answer can slightly change and will depend on my mood and the moment when asked this question:)

And I have to admit this has a lot to do with being high-sensitive.

Perhaps you're a high-sensitive person too. And maybe you also have these moments when you struggle with this sense of feeling differently in how to perceive the world with all its stimulus and the energy it takes.

In this blogpost I'd like to share about how it affects my life as an artist and how we can embrace this gift (which it truly is!) in our daily life.

In future blogposts this year I hope to elaborate some of the aspects I'm mentioning today and to deepen them out more specifically.

• Being a high-sensitive person

As a high-sensitive person we react and respond to life and its stimulus differently. Our brains process it in a different and more intense way. Every sound, scent, … comes in like we have no filter.

We cannot hide behind a thick shield or easily lay aside our troubles. Coping with our emotions and these stimulus requires a lot of our energy and that's why we often need rest and solitude to recuperate.

We get exhausted more quickly. We need quite some energy to just do our daily job and maintain friendships.

We're easily hurt and have a deep feeling of responsibility.

Of course there are also advantages about being high-sensitive. As we experience our emotions on a deeper level, we are easily touched by the beauty of life and human relationships. We notice details and discern easily complicated layers and emotions in human relationships.

High-sensitive persons enrich the world with their creativity and attentiveness for the soft sides of life.

We are like roses; soft and radiant, fragile and prickly. In the right conditions we bloom and flourish and colour the world around us.

It was only when I was a young adult, I discovered about being high-sensitive and have read several books about it since then.

This was really helpful in a time when this characteristic was quite unknown and new. I felt differently and couldn't handle that much, I didn't have the same amount of energy my friends seemed to have. I craved a lot of time alone and longed to be surrounded by nature. So you can imagine it was quite a relief to discover I wasn't the only one as 10 to 15% of the population is high-sensitive.

• My daily life

So how does my daily life looks like right now? After years of practice and trying, I think I've finally found a way of living that makes me thrive and gives me the opportunity to embrace my high-sensitivity in a positive way. It has been a long process and there have been many moments of fighting against it and that I really wished I wasn't like this. It felt like the advantages did not outweigh the disadvantages.

Our current Western society is a tough and overwhelming place for a high-sensitive person. So I'm really glad my husband and I decided 13 years ago to move with our little daughters from the city to the countryside. We now have a cozy house and a big garden with view on a calm nature reserve. This connection to nature and being able to spend so much time outside is crucial for me. It's the place where I feel most alive and free, where I can recharge. A place where I can fully breathe and calm my overstimulated senses.

I can notice the beauty of every season and watch how they slowly shift from one into the next.

‘Into your garden you can walk and with each plant and flower talk;

view all their glories, from each one raise some rare meditation.’

John Rea, 1665

Being able to run my own business and create is such a blessing. I can work at my own pace and love to add a little beauty and wonder to this world.

I'd like to start my day with some movement and fresh air. So I begin with a Pilates session and twice a week I also go for a long run in nature. On the days I'm not running, I try to work in the garden or go for a walk. Physical exercise and being outside both help me to awaken my senses and body. It's a soft and calm start of my day. I often get some flashes of inspiration on my walks or during my runs which is just wonderful.

After having breakfast I have some quiet time to read, reflect or journal. Then I will do some chores in the house and administration for my business.

With a cup of herbal tea, I'm off to my studio and start working. Those of you who have already been in my studio, know it's a peaceful place. And that's exactly how I like it to be! A lot of nature and flea market treasures, dried flowers and rustic wooden decoration. I always have seasonal flowers from the garden on my desk which gives me so much joy and inspiration and brings the seasons inside my studio.

Whenever possible, I eat my lunch outside, even in winter (wrapped warmly) while I enjoy the silence, fresh air, birdsong and tiny details in the garden.

In the evening I like to wind down around 8 o’clock with a cup of tea and read, do some water colouring or call a friend. Or take the time to watch a beautiful sunset with its painted sky.

This really slows me down and prepares me to go to sleep. I try to avoid working on the computer or using my mobile phone (except for listening to music) after 8 PM. We don't have a TV and I scarcely follow the news. I often feel overwhelmed by all the need, misery and sadness in the world. I can't handle much of it so I try to focus on the beauty in this world. That's why I love to create my botanical worlds in porcelain where there's a touch of fragility, poetry and nostalgy.

For me, it's also important not having completely full weekends. I'm quite strict in putting some boundaries about activities and appointments, especially when there are a lot of people and noise involved. One of my weekend days really has to be a day off where I can recharge and have time to be still and contemplate.

When I meet a friend, we often go for a walk in nature. Being in a calm surrounding is the ideal setting to have some profound and personal conversations, which is really essential for me as a high-sensitive person.

I hope this blogpost has been an encouragement for you to accept the gift of high-sensitivity in your life and to bloom the way you are!