I am sure you know these little girls who strongly remind us of fairies or elves. They often have a very tender, transparent skin, and an ethereal aura which seems to be out of this world. Most of these children (also boys) live as in a big protective bubble, in their own world, which has not much in common with the earthly one.

Maybe you were such a girl, felt and perceived more than most people around you. It was normal for you, but one day you noticed that you were different. How did you handle it?

Did you want to be like your friends at all costs?

Did you get protective armour?

Did you stop talking about what you can see or feel?

Did you feel very lonely?

Did you feel misunderstood, rejected or excluded?

When I was four years old, I used to live in my own world which was not available to my parents. I talked to my invisible friends, the angels, but also to my ‘husband’ Willy. I enjoyed it. For many years, I kept retreating from others, and while my friends scampered around outside, I sat in my room, dreaming, drawing, and writing fantasy stories into a thick book.

Today children, like you and me, would be categorized as highly sensitive, which does not actually help them. Except their inner circle – including their teachers – would understand what this is all about.

FINDING OUT WITH THE HELP OF TESTS, WHETHER ONE IS HIGHLY SENSITIVE

The anthroposophist Rudolf Steiner was one of the first to notice there were highly sensitive people. Only after Dr. Elaine N. Aaron published a special (self) test in 1997, could we find out for ourselves whether we are highly sensitive, or not. This did not only start a new stereotype thinking, but for the first time also provided the chance to understand and accept one’s being different.

In the meantime, you can find a great number of books which try to explain the special characteristics, abilities and chances of highly talented, highly sensitive and medial people.

FOR HIGHLY SENSITIVE PEOPLE THE WINDS ARE HARD

It is indeed not always easy to live with being different. Especially in the rough business world where a cold wind blows in our faces, which almost takes our breath away. This is why highly sensitive people want to compensate their being different with more performance. They do not want to be different, they want to fit in and be accepted.

It might be one of the most important decisions for highly sensitive people to accept, respect and love themselves as they are. Even if their high sensitivity might cause restrictions in some areas, it bears extraordinary skills. Because who can feel or know what others are thinking, what ambiguous messages really mean, what will happen next, or what the consequences of a decision might be? It is mostly the girls, elves and the highly sensitive ones, who are connected with other levels of awareness, where they get their information from.