In this honest and tender reflection, I share my own journey with subtle energy drains—from improv classes to social time with friends to even how I was walking my dog. As HSPs and neurodivergent creatives, we often override our needs in the name of “normal,” only to spiral into exhaustion, melancholy, or creative block.

Life is not a long flowy river! It’s messy, it gets topsy turvy, it goes up and down, just like the intense emotions we tend to feel as a Highly Sensitive Person. It’s messy, it’s painful, it’s beautiful, it’s full of surprises ✨ And when it feels like a HOT mess, overwhelm shows up big time for us, HSPs. Remaining regulated so that our nervous system can work its wonders doesn’t have to be as complicated as some influencers lead us to know on social media.

In the past, I would have beaten myself up for falling behind my goals, but this time I chose to follow my body's energy, and decided to approach my work differently. A break was needed, and a break I took. As the saying goes, sometimes you really gotta take a few steps backwards in order to move forward!