I’ve been on a Hemingway kick again and so I thought I’d write a little prose the way he would’ve…
I think I nailed it but hey, it’s the message that counts.
On Sensitivity
Don’t apologise for being sensitive. It’s not weakness. It’s strength.
A leopard never apologises for sharp hearing, night vision, or keen smell. It uses these gifts to survive.
Leopards weigh less than men but drag prey three times their size up trees. They can reach forty miles per hour from a standstill. They stalk. They outsmart.
Your sensitivity is like this.
The world lies. It says sensitivity makes you emotional, manipulated, broken, burdensome. Not true.
Your sensitivity is night vision in a world of the blind. You notice tone shifts. Family tensions. Beauty others miss.
It’s not just for enduring. It’s for using. While others play checkers, you see the whole chess board. You detect lies. You read rooms instantly.
Don’t hide it. Don’t numb it. Sharpen it.
Sensitivity is dangerous as a black widow in a glove. Dangerous as a knife in darkness. Dangerous as a watching leopard.
It makes you a better friend, lover, artist, human.
When someone calls you “too sensitive,” don’t smile politely. Smile like a leopard before it rips your face off.
Your sensitivity isn’t your burden. It’s your weapon.
Use it.
Stephen Walker
P.S. The most dangerous people I know are the ones who feel everything and have learned not to apologise for it.