why are creative people so sensitive?

JaneDoe

I’ve been told I’m a very sensitive person. I’ve also been told I’m a very creative person. I’m currently studying a bachelor of music, I write and produce my own songs and I’ve started drawing my own music videos. I also like to draw just for the sake of it and sometimes I like to write as well. My parents tell me all the time that I have an “artist temperament” and that’s why I’m so emotional and mentally ill. It hurts me a lot when people tell me things like “you should be realistic” or “it’s not a respectable career path” or that I’m not talented enough or good enough. But recently I’ve been feeling particularly crap about people calling me lazy. I don’t think I’m that lazy, but people see me spending a lot of time writing music or drawing and they immediately equate it to being unproductive and lazy. I feel like it’s such a double standard, like a kid could study really hard to get into medicine and everyone says “wow they’re so dedicated” “they work really hard to achieve theyr goals” but when I worked my ass off to pass my uni audition I’m “lazy” and I’m “wasting my time”. When people are tired, sad and unhappy they turn to music, arts, fiction and TV to make them feel better but there’s absolutely no appreciation for the people who strive to make that media. It’s just so frustrating.

Psychdiaries2

Hi there,

A friendly welcome to the forums, thanks for your post!

I hear you, it's so frustrating to hear people call creative people 'lazy' just because they're not doing maths and pursuing something artistic instead. I don't think artistic people tend to be more sensitive than people who are not artistic. If someone is feeling emotional about something or needs to express something, I don't believe it has anything to do with creativity. Obviously, if something is weighing down on you, you gotta express it! It's healthy.

I have a friend who is an amazing artist, and she is doing what she loves and enjoys it. You seem pretty passionate about writing and producing your music and drawing too which is awesome. I think that if you're fulfilled, then that's the most important thing. I've never seen my friend so happy and it's so great!

You're not lazy or unproductive, you sound like you put a lot of effort into your work. As long as you know that, try not to dwell on what others think. You're not wasting your time if you are doing what you love. You're right, people do turn to the arts to feel better, yet it's under appreciated. You don't need to prove yourself for anyone else, you're studying what you're studying for you.

Hope this helps,

PsychDiaries

Alikiwi

I think it's only natural that artistic people are sensitive, otherwise they couldn't be artistic! Sounds like you don't have the most understanding people around you, perhaps you actually need more artistic people around you who would understand. Clearly some people don't understand or appreciate you. Perhaps somehow you could spend more time with like-minded people?

JaneDoe

Yeah it’s mainly family that says these types of things. My friends are always supportive of the things I do and most of them are also either artists/musicians/creatives or they are people who actively enjoy and engage with the arts.

My family is kind of the opposite. For starters my mum is a scientist and my dad is an engineer. They always say that they want me to pursue what makes me happy, but then they’ll say negative things that hurt me and drag me down. My dad is also still subtly trying to convince me to change degrees into engineering. They’ve even kept all my old math textbooks for this reason knowing how much I hate maths. I just don’t feel very seen by them, and they’re family so theyr the closet to me.

trying_my_best

Hi JaneDo!

Firstly, I would love to say it makes me so happy to read you are studying something it seems like you love despite the words of others! It is a great quality to have!

Secondly, regarding the overall question. I think, as a fellow person with big feeling and creative tendencies, make our art more relatable to others. Feelings are a part of the human condition and everyone has felt them! Being able to translate that through art is an amazing gift!

Wishing you the best 🫶

randomxx

We're so sensitive bc we're usually more aware and see a lot more than other people. lt just comes with the imagination and creativity and so the same goes for peoples actions in the way they are with us too.

My dad always said ahhh,no money in art until your gone ha, and in many cases l'd thought he was right really, it's a hard path for many.

Hence the " starving artist " thing.

l didn't wanna struggle like that and God knows dads words were always ringing in my head any time l thought about it so my idea was to work 10 or however many yrs it took to hopefully build up a bit maybe even get a house first and then go into art. So l didn't get into it until mid 30s and l was an artist for 10yrs or so. Weird really though , although l hadn't started making enough to support a family in that time and we had a new baby but for me, l didn't really like the artists life much either. l sort of missed tbh , a more normal lifestyle, even just working , art took me over way too much, l found l felt much freer and happier in my old life and so l quit and never went back.

lt's just the story really and probably not much help sorry. But personally, l think you should be incredibly proud of what you've been doing , that's really big stuff, lovely stuff, l know that doesn't make things easier with the parents though. l'm not sure what the answer there is but it does depend to on how seriously your taking your art or some future in it l guess too.

l'm sorry there's not a silver bullet in that.

rx

therising

Hi JaneDoe

I'd say creative people are more sensitive because they're brilliant at sensing the kind of things they need to. A musician, for example, may have an incredible sense of sound. They may have a sense of the kind of audience that appreciates their music, a sense of the best venues to play at, a good sense or judge of character, a sense of what's inspiring or calming and what's depressing or stressful and the list goes on. Same goes for a painter, with their natural love of a sense of texture, colour, feeling and more. While an engineer or scientist may say 'You need to come to your senses', an artist would not be wrong in responding with 'I have come to my senses, those which relate to art and creativity'.

Most sensitives I know tend to have incredible abilities. They tend to be seers or feelers or hearers etc. They can see through their mind/imagination, feel through their emotions and nervous system and hear through intuition/inner dialogue. With both a bright side and a dark side to the same coin, a seer can not only see the best, they can also see the worst. They can not only feel the best of emotions, they can also feel the worst of emotions. They can not only hear the best kind of inner dialogue, they can also hear the worst. In other words, there's a flip side to every natural ability. The challenge can involve not letting the flip side or the dark side get the better of us.