Does being a "Highly Sensitive Person" affect your self-esteem?

And, is it healthy to say that "Haters gonna hate"?

Today we’re featuring the art of Hermen Anglada Camarasa. This one is called “Florera,” from 1935. This Substack focuses so much on beauty, for its own sake of course, but also because it’s the ultimate form of self-anchoring for HSPs - not to mention self-expression. Many of our great artists were HSPs, because who else spends their days attuned to that which is most beautiful, and attempting to preserve it on canvas, on the page, on the stage, etc.?

“I think the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) trait is so misunderstood. It’s one of those IF YOU KNOW YOU KNOW traits. If you’re in the approximately 15% to 20% of people who is an HSP, you certainly don’t need me to tell you that you are HSP. You live it every damn second of your life! But if you’re far, far away from that trait, it might be hard for you to comprehend what the inner experience of an HSP is like.”

These words come from my friend Scott Barry Kaufman, the great cognitive scientist and author who has spent many years studying creativity, human potential, and transcendence. SBK is a frequent guest essayist and Candlelight Chat guest at The Quiet Life - and you can follow his own Substack too, here. He’s also an HSP.

Today SBK’s back with us, writing on:

*Why HSP’s can have shaky self-esteem (or, what SBK calls “self-belief”) — and how to strengthen it;

*Why you can have strong self-belief in Situation A and find that it eludes you in Situation B;

*Whether it’s healthy to say “Haters gonna hate”;

and much more.