Let’s talk CREATIVITY!! Join me for the Saturday, October 2nd HSP Monthly Meeting from Noon – 130pm CST via Zoom to explore:

– what creativity looks like in HSPs and HSS/HSPs

– how we can think of the creative process as one that recognizes thinking that is both creative and rational

– Envisioning creativity in a broader, more inclusive way than strictly the realm of the artist

Interested? I know I am, as CREATIVITY is a core part of who I am and how I think of life…

Join us in CREATIVE community where HSPs and HSS/HSPs come together to discuss and learn about the possibilities inherent in our trait/s!!

Interview #10 and I am reminded of the fundamental kindness and gentle manner of many sensitive men as our friend Fabio Cunha joined us from Brazil!! Fabio is very interested in the future of work and of organizations as they evolve with the changes in technology and the increasing awareness of work as a place we can transform through fully owning our own selves first.

In a wide-ranging conversation Fabio provided the kind of deep insights and reflections that only come from long experience and careful thought. Fabio’s kind nature and expression of sensitivity in a relaxed and confident way will inspire you in Sensitive Men Rising, the first film for sensitive men and directed by Will Harper, also the director for Sensitive-The Untold Story.

As the co-producer of Sensitive Men Rising I can say that this work is very privileged and meaningful work and I am humbled to bring it to the world

Interview #7 for Sensitive Men Rising, the first documentary film about and for men by Will Harper, director for Sensitive-The Untold Story, who are part of the 20% of the world’s population with the naturally occurring, neutral and normal temperament we call high sensitivity. Interview #7 was with our very own Esteban Guerrero, whose story of coming to know and embrace high sensitivity took him on a long journey of discovering for himself how to be both high in sensitivity AND high in sensation seeking!!

This is the first interview so far to illuminate high sensation seeking and it is overdue because we HSS/HSPs are 30% of the total HSP population and often overlooked. Many men will identify with Esteban’s story of not knowing why they have strong emotions or how to deal with them well in a modern world. With the additional wrinkle thrown in of sensation seeking providing an almost irresistible drive for novelty and reinvention throughout life!!

Esteban’s story is full of heart and mind as we explored sensitivity AND sensation seeking. Sensitive Men Rising will be enriched by Esteban’s gracious sharing of his lived experiences and insights, I know I am!!

Interview #6 found me truly gifted with deep, deep insights from one of the most interesting humans that I have ever worked with, Otis Smallwood!! Otis is a cultural health practitioner & philosophically-oriented coach and consultant investing in and assisting startup organizations, restructuring established businesses, and improving operational efficiencies through employee and cultural engagement.

In an absolutely fascinating and poignant discussion that ranged from creating “sensitive spaces” for people to simply come together in open invitation to explore themselves to the notion of leadership as stewardship of not only others but ourselves, as we also engage in lifelong self inquiries.

When you see Otis’ segments in Sensitive Men Rising I am sure they will connect with you on deep, core value and spiritual levels. We’ve spoken before about sensitive men being the “quiet ones” but that same interiority provides an attuned sensitivity to people, the environments we are in, and to our inner selves.

You’re a sensitive man now what? Breathe, relax, get to know yourself as you experience sensitivity as a natural way of being no different than your breath or your heartbeat. Sensitivity is where you operate from as wholly and naturally as anything else that we accept without concern.

Enter the “sensitive space” that Will, Otis and I (and many others) have held for you in this film so we can explore sensitivity together!!

Interview #2 now complete!! Brandon Bennett, Brandon is certified in mind-body psychology, emotional awareness, yoga, qigong, mindfulness meditation, holistic nutrition, and helps ambitious, sensitive, and heart-centered men intentionally slow down, mindfully process all of their emotions, and clarify their heart’s vision. Brandon’s work centers on helping others on their paths of transformative, holistic growth.

The tone of gentle compassion and authentic connection was, I feel, set today for all future interviews!!

More interviews tomorrow! What a privilege and an honor to work on this film!

Join me tomorrow at Noon-130pm CST for our HSP and HSS/HSP Monthly Meeting!! These monthly zoom meetings are a great and so affordable way for you to explore topics of deep importance to all HSPs and HSS/HSPs in an intimate setting with other HSPs and HSS/HSPs.

Topics:

The “Quiet” Leader – why quiet leadership matters

The HSS/HSP as Leader – uniquely suited to innovation and emergence?

As always, there will be time for one on one discussion in breakout rooms where you will not only meet another HSP or HSS/HSP but share your insights and experiences. It’s through our shared co-creation of an intentional community that we all feel supported, while gaining in awareness, understanding, and appreciation of both high sensitivity and high sensation seeking.

Thrive: The Highly Sensitive Person and Career

Thrill: The High Sensation Seeking Highly Sensitive Person

Empowering the Sensitive Male Soul

https://warzel.substack.com/p/what-if-people-dont-want-a-career

How “bought in” are you? Do you “fit” into your workplace culture or just pretend to? Many HSPs may feel that conformity to a restrictive cultural environment that always dangles the carrot holding the hope of better times as a way to control, intimidate, or force workers to do more work than they are compensated for is not for them at all.

Do YOU really want a career? Or a job that pays you fairly for the skills you perform? Do you seek identity from career or do you derive your identity from other areas of life? There IS a disconnect between CAREER and WORK that sneaks past many people but that seems to be changing as people have now had a chance to step back and consider the nature of work versus career.

This very useful article speaks to the growing acknowledgement among many workers that they don’t truly want to buy-in to a company culture, particularly when what is asked of them comes from a deeply distorted view of the working life. When you are paid for 40 hours of work but often work 80, much of that outside of official work that inevitably intrudes on your REAL home life, it’s easy to see that HSPs especially were never the type of personality to buy-in to a harsh, draconian, manipulative “career.” When overwork is glorified and praised and LIFE is viewed as secondary, the mix is wrong to many HSPs and HSS/HSPs.

HSS/HSPs, especially are more likely to HAVE to blaze their own trail because their need to reinvent themselves continually is a strong driver of behaviors. If you are a high sensation seeking HSP, you will do better at short-term projects, gigs, or side hustles. You will likely NOT do as well in long-term employment which can quickly give way to stagnation, boredom, and repetition. Want to drive HSS/HSPs out of their minds, stick them in a never-changing situation! They will wither and likely just leave a position rather than spend the next 20-40 years in such conditions (my reason for not making my military service a “career”).

True, some HSPs and HSS/HSPs DO find careers that work for them but many more seriously struggle through burnout after burnout. One of the main ways they also struggle is in the conformity and inhuman expectations of total devotion to a fanatical ideal of “career.” HSPs don’t do culture, they invent it One fMRI brain study in 2007 showed that the activation in the brains of HSPs were not as activated in considering their cultural context when performing a task. Meaning HSPs, across cultures, seem to pay less attention to the inherent bias’ in cultural beliefs and norms and prefer to accurately assess for themselves how to accomplish the task.

Conformity, with that in mind, is an imposition of workplace culture on employees. Over time, less sensitive employees may come to adopt the company’s norms as their own. HSPs may cast a snarky side eye at ALL of it…

Find or better yet, CREATE work that works for YOU folks!! You are more likely at this point to be happier in something of your own creation than attempting to fit yourself into a predefined culture within a career. Then, YOU will have the opportunity to create a workplace culture.

Hmmmmmm….what would it look like if HSPs or HSS/HSPs created the culture?

Sensitive Men Rising is indeed a fitting title to the increasing awareness and appreciation of the role we sensitive men may play in the world!! Sensitive men have always been tasked with an extra sensitivity combined with a more profound and deep inner world where problems find solutions, meaning is given to our lived experiences, and where real human leadership is rooted. Now, with the successes of a number of seminars, I am pleased to announce the 4th Highly Sensitive Men’s Seminar, to be held Dec. 4th from 2-6pm, CST via Zoom!!

Join me, Dr. Tracy Cooper, along with guest speakers to be announced soon, for a unique gathering of highly sensitive men to continue the collective effort to raise consciousness in sensitive men around their trait, it’s inherent potential, and how they may choose to “show up” in an increasingly challenging world desperately in need of real leadership and men who can embody and express a masculinity that is benevolent, mentoring, patient, and kind.

Explore how quiet leadership may be the pathway to meaningful influence and goal achievement, as opposed to more hegemonic ideals about leaders and how they “should” act. Learn about divergent-convergent thinking and how they work together in close synchrony to yield better solutions and better planning. ReVision for yourself how you might choose to “show up” in this world where opportunities abound as never before but also age-old human challenges still remind us that there is much work to be done by skillful, creative, and passionate head and heart leaders!! The 4th Highly Sensitive Men’s Seminar will be a good one that you won’t want to miss!!

PLEASE help me make this the biggest Sensitive Men’s Seminar yet by sharing with your social media!! We need to reach so many more sensitive men who may benefit from this work.

THIS Saturday, Aug. 21st from Noon-5pm, CST IS the date for our HSP Self-Care Seminar! Join us in warm community for an exploration of self-care in ways you have probably not considered but which you will benefit from tremendously.

Self-care is a trendy buzzword and I do not use it in that sense. Self-care, as I advocate for it, is a serious daily practice designed to help better one’s life and build sustainability. Too many of us tend to burn out because we don’t know our trait very well, don’t know our specific needs, and take a piecemeal approach to managing our lives, rather than a comprehensive approach that will help move you from where you are to where you’d like to be in terms of well-being and well-functioning.

If you’ve done the other self-care seminars or workshops, I invite you to view mine as very different and novel, as you may have come to expect from my work.

See you Saturday!!