Sensitivity: A burden or a gift?

Did you know that there are potentially 2,500 stars visible to the human eye every night? However, due to light pollution, the average city-dweller is lucky if they see a dozen. And in the average suburb, one might see between 200 and 300 at best.

I arrived in the Hawaiian jungle on the night of a new moon. There was only one long road through the mango trees that led to the beach. The first time I walked down that road, there were no street lights or passing cars. I was immersed in the blackest black I had ever experienced. Yet, simultaneously, I had never seen so many stars.

The jungle flora surrounding me was so dense that I could not tell how close I was to reaching the end of the road. I had to trust the ground beneath my feet to still be there with every step I took.

It was equally as isolating as it was immersive. Anyone who walked in front of me seemed to disappear into the blackness within seconds.

At one point, I even tried turning around, but by then, I could no longer see the pocket of starlit sky that marked my entry point. All there was left to do was wander deeper into the darkness. The only way out of it became through.

Within days, I felt a change within me. I grew tired soon after sunset, and the coqui frogs serenading their lovers lulled me into deep sleep. Without even setting an alarm on my phone, I woke peacefully with the rising sun, and sometimes even right before, in perfect Ayurvedic rhythm.

My body clock adjusted to that of Mother Earth, and returned with ease to a more natural cycle, once back in a more natural setting. That is the healing power of nature, and the power of our remembering that we are part of it.

Over a few weeks, I noticed my eyes had gradually adjusted to the lack of light pollution, and I could see much better in the dark than I could when I first arrived. By the night of the full moon, that once ever-dark Mango road was now completely illuminated by the moon and starlight.

In the city, where artificial lights always accompany the night, it saddens me to realize that we don't get the chance to experience the moon or stars in the same way, let alone the quality of sleep that accompanies limited exposure to light sources at night.

At first, I found it nearly impossible to reintegrate into normal city life after experiencing the jungle. Every light and sound was intensified, and I realized how much visual and auditory noise polluted my reality, day and night.

By spending time in nature and reconnecting with the natural cycles of our bodies, our planet, and our solar system, we can learn to cultivate our sensitivity again. And when we do, we can finally heal ourselves, one another, and our planet.

The sensitivity spectrum contains a full range of feelings, from unbearable pain to uncontainable joy. The more sensitive we become to our own pain and joy, the more sensitive we become to the pain and joy of others, including Mother Earth.

Pollution, of any and all kinds, desensitizes us.

Put simply, desensitization is passive suicide.

Our society has long been running on a collectively dysregulated nervous system that keeps us in survival mentality.

Despite all of our technological advancements and modern creature comforts, sensitivity is still ingrained in the collective psyche as a threat or weakness because it has the potential to endanger our current fear-based society from functioning as is.

But that also means it has the potential to shift our current fear-based society into one that functions better.

Until then, the largely disempowered majority of people are unknowingly desensitized to the pollution of the air, the water, the land, their bodies, and even their minds.

However, this current system is inherently flawed because it is unsustainable. The way we treat ourselves, each other, other species, and Mother Nature is not in alignment with the highest good of the collective. Meaning, sooner or later, “we will either compete and consume ourselves into extinction, or we must learn to cooperate and conserve" (Gregory David Roberts).

Whether we are aware of it or not, overstimulation takes a major toll on our internal and external environments. For some of us, this continual state of hyperarousal is all we've ever known. It may only be after experiencing lower levels of stimulation, such as when immersed in the jungle, off-grid, that we start to realize just how desensitized we've become.

Sensitivity keeps the messenger channels within our energetic bodies open to receiving information. When those channels are closed, we suffer from delusions of disconnection & feel alone, as opposed to feeling ALL-ONE. Whatever we, as individuals, consciously or compulsively, choose to do with the information we receive through our sensitivity is the shared responsibility of our collective.

By paying attention to our subtle energies and remaining sensitive, we can start to notice hints of energetic dissonance before they grow into a full-blown anxiety attack or worse, a debilitating illness. This clears a lot of internal space for us to also feel hints of energetic resonance, reassuring us that we are living most in alignment with our heart’s values and soul’s purpose.

As we learn to address these subtle energies as they arise, rather than suppressing or repressing them, we hold one another accountable to enact necessary changes in our lives. This empowers us as a species to co-create a more ethical and sustainable system that benefits the highest good of all.

If we have the power to destroy the world, that must mean we also possess the untapped power to recreate it.

It all begins from within. It starts with the heart.

The heart is naturally sensitive and feels everything, no matter who or what a particular feeling may be directed at. The heart knows only feelings of connection and disconnection, of resonance and dissonance.

So, as we restore our connection to sensitivity, we also restore our receptivity to the forgotten language of the heart. Those of us who remain sensitive retain access to the best of humanity’s potential: deep love, empathy, compassion, forgiveness, kindness, and gratitude—as well as all extrasensory gifts.

Now more than ever, it is essential for humanity to embrace sensitivity. We must learn to integrate our full range of human experiences, regardless of whether we judge them as bad or good. If we don’t, we risk losing everything.

The gift of sensitivity is unlimited access to our innate source of strength and wisdom. Combined with awareness and conscious action, sensitivity has the power to revolutionize our world.