highly sensitive power

Creativity Coach | Cofounder of Parami Media and Tribe

Tribe – the new website and magazine created by Todd Hagler and his intriguing cohorts – makes my jaw drop. The site provides deep, interesting information that gets me thinking in new ways; the forums offer ways to connect on a variety of topics; and the magazine promises involvement and community through the inclusive production format they’ve chosen.

I particularly enjoy the lateral thinking that’s apparent throughout the site, obviously a sign of the creators’ sensibilities. And Todd embodies Tribe’s tag line – “Your passion. Our purpose.” – through his gentle and responsible manner and the obvious pleasure he gets from helping others.

Todd’s review of Daniel Pink’s stellar book A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the World (which I’ve been chomping at the bit to review on Highly Sensitive Power), thoughtfully written to highlight the book’s relevance for sensitive people, is further proof that his finger is on the pulse of sensitive empowerment.

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In what way are you most successfully sensitive?

As a creative, being highly sensitive is invaluable to “the process.” Not too long ago I realized that I could have a career as a futurist. My sensitivity extends beyond my immediate surroundings to society at large. Oddly, that knowledge came from looking back over my creative life. It dawned on me that, time and time again, I had been slightly ahead of the curve when it came to popular culture.

I created ceramic vessels that looked like bamboo stalks and shoots several years before bamboo and all things Eastern became the rage with designers across America.

Silhouettes became a central theme in my artwork several years ago. My artist statement at the time described my attempts, in a “world overwhelmed by information and visual stimulation,” to tell more – by actually showing less. By distilling my images down to the most basic outlines I hoped to encourage the viewer to see the objects anew.

After about a year of working with this silhouetted imagery, my focus began to shift slightly. I started to incorporate bird images, in silhouette, into my work. Today, the silhouette is in vogue and is seen everywhere from TV and movie title sequences to packaging and textiles.

It has taken me years to finally hear, and trust, that positive inner voice.

What or who has inspired you to embrace your sensitivity?

I grew up in a very small town in northeast Texas. Like most highly sensitive people (HSPs), I always had this feeling of being somehow different. Fortunately, my parents always encouraged a strong sense of individuality in both my sister and me. They taught me that I mattered and that my ideas, no matter how novel, were valid.

My father taught agribusiness at the local high school. It was in one of his classes that I learned to weld (a very practical skill for life on a farm). I’ll never forget how, while the other students were concentrating on learning to make a strong clean weld to join two pieces of metal together, I was creating little abstract sculptures out of scraps of iron. Most importantly, I remember how that was perfectly OK with my dad.

What are your eternal fascinations?

The human drive to create and the need to connect, to communicate, are central to everything I do. It all comes down to communication for me. How can we honestly face ourselves and how do we express what we find to others?

What quest currently captivates you?

I’m working with Tina Bentley to launch an online community and magazine for HSPs, called Tribe. Our goal is to celebrate the boundless creative potential of HSPs – to explore and even awaken their passions by showcasing their skills and talents in Tribe magazine. We have launched the Tribe website and forum and hope to have the premier issue of the magazine ready early in 2010.

It has been an incredible journey so far. We are connecting with sensitive and creative people from around the world. A surprising number of people who had not heard of the HSP trait until they discovered Tribe have embraced being highly sensitive. It’s exciting to see them embark on their own journeys of self-discovery.

I’m also beginning training toward becoming a certified creativity coach. I’m enthusiastic about the opportunity to help motivate creative people to develop meaning in their lives.

The idea for Tribe solidified after Tina attended the 2008 HSP Gathering, hosted by Jacquelyn Strickland, at Menla Mountain Retreat Center in Phoenicia, New York. During the gathering, Tina realized the great pools of talent in the HSP community. When she returned from the event, we talked about what we could do to encourage HSPs and decided the forum and magazine combination was an ideal format for strengthening the highly sensitive community.

My work with Tribe has shown me how many creative people, especially HSPs, are in need of the guidance and nurturing support of a creativity coach. I believe my experience as a professional creative and my perspective as an HSP will enable me to help my clients transform their relationship with the creative process. People interested in creativity coaching can reach me at Creativity Meaning Coach.

What is your favourite kind of help to give?

There are two kinds of help that give me a special sense of fulfillment. One is the kind I hope to achieve with my creativity coaching. I’ve done it naturally all my life. It’s about being a good listener, putting my HSP and empathic traits to use, and offering my best advice and honest encouragement. It feels really great to get a call or an email from an old friend or former co-worker who expresses how some bit of past advice or encouragement continues to help them years later.

The other stems from simple human kindness: holding the door for a stranger, helping a fellow shopper at the market get something down from a high shelf (I’m tall), allowing other drivers to get in front of me on the highway – I call it “road sage,” the opposite of road rage. These are the kind of things that take no effort, yet it always amazes me how surprised people are to simply be treated kindly.

The easiest way to put a smile on your face is to put one on someone else’s first.

Photo from Todd

Related reading: Successfully Sensitive | Dolly Hopkins, Successfully Sensitive | Richard Sharpe