“Being a sensitive empath is a beautiful thing as an artist, and it fosters a deep burning curiosity about why we do the things we do.” - Musician Alanis Morissette
She is featured in the documentary “Sensitive – The Untold Story” - based on the work of Dr. Elaine Aron and her research on the innate trait of high sensitivity, or sensory processing sensitivity.
The first part of this episode is from the conversation between Morissette and Dr. Aron in the movie.
The second part is an excerpt from an interview by author Cheryl Richardson.
See videos about the documentary and the trait, plus resources, in article On Being a Highly Sensitive Person – a Trait With Strong Gifts and Challenges.
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From the transcript for this episode at the main podcast site:
Alanis Morissette 0:01
On one hand, my traits and these qualities were seen as really positive and a boon. And something that people were frothing at the mouth to exploit. And then in the same breath, it was something that was sort of a bane of my existence and a challenge for people to deal with.
Elaine Aron 0:18
Exactly the way I describe like the package deal that people want the positive side of the sensitivity, and then they want you to get rid of the negative side, and you can't get rid of it.
Alanis Morissette 0:27
Lord knows I tried that: Okay, so you don't like the feeling part, the intense feelings that I have, okay, I'll be the needless robot that you want me to be.
But of course, there was a great misperception of my approach to life as being you know, too high maintenance, and too emotional, and too a lot of… too much too intense.
And so I spent most of my life thinking that how I was was a problem for people. Yet, at the same time, I was getting the message that what it was that I was coming to specifically because of my trait, they wanted that - they wanted the outcome and the fruit of my trait, but they didn't want my trait.
So it was an interesting combination of being loved for it and being rejected for it.
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View selected episodes and articles with more resources: The Creative Mind Audio Podcast page on the main site.
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