This article is an excerpt from a past MONTHLY LETTER. If you enjoy this kind of grounding support, sign up to receive the monthly coaching package: it includes an article like this one, journaling prompts, creative practices, spiritual rituals and supportive tools to help you navigate your rebellious path as an artist or creative entrepreneur.

This month, we’re exploring the undeniable bravery, strength and power that lies underneath (the gift of) sensitivity— and how to ride the waves of our emotional world, without drowning in it.

The great depths of our emotional ocean are stamping grounds for us, creative minds. Not only are we brave enough to dive in and unearth what lies beneath the surface, but we also possess the tenacity to navigate uncharted waters. Wholeheartedly and relentlessly, we dare to colour outside the lines and challenge the status quo.

This grit is only possible because we are blessed (not burdened) with the gift of sensitivity— underneath its tenderness lies undeniable bravery, strength and power. It’s our ability to feel deeply, experience intensely, and reflect thoroughly that makes us powerful changemakers.

Artists are at the heart of humanity.

Artists are the heart of humanity.

We make the invisible visible.

We make sense of ambiguity.

We mend the fragmented.

We open hearts and shift perspectives.

We transmute pain into beauty.

Creativity and sensitivity are intertwined— without the curiosity to discover, the courage to explore and the ability to feel deeply, art simply could not exist.

To create art, artists must dive in their emotional depths— but if water is cleansing and purifying, it is also unpredictable and erratic. To create art, artists must also learn to swim— we must embody the empowered and conscious creator, not drown in the story of the self-sacrificing, tormented artist.

At times, we may feel too much, and all at once— wandering on the path of emotional overload. Our sensitive heart can easily sink under the weight of collective ache— it may be tempting to intellectualize our emotions or drift away into escapism (to avoid our emotional world) or even carry out the role of the martyr (to rescue others from their own).

When we choose to see emotions as something to avoid, fix or tame, we hold the belief that it’s not safe to feel or that we’re not supposed to be feeling (angry, sad, heartbroken, discouraged, afraid, anxious…). We disconnect from our heart and escape into the mind— we sever ourselves from the muse.

Instead, let’s remind ourselves that emotions don’t need to be figured out, fixed or avoided— and let’s learn to swim in the waters of our emotional world. We may feel out of balance simply because we’ve been running away from it. When we allow our emotions to just be (seen, heard, accepted), they can flow out of us. After all, emotion is energy in motion— it is asking to move through you. Let it.

3 steps to ride out emotional waves:

Pause— Oftentimes, what we need is a retreat, not an escape. A sacred space to be with the emotion, and restore our body, mind, heart and soul connection.
Identify— Lean into curiosity rather than judgment: name the emotion, locate it in your body, welcome it. Ask: What is the purpose of your visit? Without the urge to get rid of the uninvited guest, but with the willingness to listen to their insightful messages.
Create— Use your gift. You have the power to transmute emotions and energies. How can you turn the pain, ache, anxiety, frustration, sadness into a creative idea?