I love this so much, Kaylen. I am (unsurprisingly) also an empath, and am right there with you learning how to let other people in. I'm great at telling other people stories, but it hasn't always been easy moving deeper into the sticky, porous, messy, beautiful emotions and fears that lie beneath the telling. I also really love how you talk about Big Love and how we are all participating in that love when we are pursuing our creative endeavors. Thank you for this wonderful, wise essay- I'll be thinking about it for some time to come! 💛✨
To think I scribbled something that resonated with you is the kindest mirror-reflection I could receive. Thank you so much for pausing here with me and for sharing that you feel it all too! You are such a special and influential presence in my life. I'm so happy to be here with you. <3
Thank you for being a mirror and soulmate!! I love everything about this piece today, it’s exactly what has been on my mind for about a week now! I’ve been thinking about all the ways creativity shows up, how all the things I love in this life are word based (except for the rare occasions when I find a piece of art that moves me). I thought about how songs are storytelling set to sounds. And how amazing it is that someone can sit down and hear a set of sounds and those sounds conjure words! Or how a set of words can conjure sounds!
Magic.
Anyway, that’s a little glimpse into my brain. I love you, thank you for the shoutout! And I hope you have a wonderfully magically delicious day!!
Hi hi hi!!!! I was thinking of you BIG TIME while watching the show!
I thought of your musical mama & papa and the creativity and chaos that ensued to make the music happen both on screen and off.
I don't know if you've seen or read it, but if you do- I'd LOVE to process with you!
I have...feelings LOL
Thank you for always showing up and speaking out and creating exactly what the world needs at the perfect moment. You are such a goddess. I cherish your presence and your publications.
Gahhhhhh I wish I could hug you. Thank you for pouring all that love into me just now, I needed it!!! And also - I watched the series and had big feelings about all of it, especially because of my background!!! I’d love to process it all with you!! :)
Kaylen— I move through what you name. Empathy has always lived in me—unfiltered, steady, alive. My EQ—which is said to be the emotional counterpoint to the IQ, and speaks to empathetic capacity—was measured under trauma in 1994 at 165. I am neurodivergent, highly sensitive, highly sensible, and multi-gifted. A scanner personality with many threads alive in me at once. What I haven’t received most of my life was empathy. What I almost gave up on was empathy. It helped me survive and almost destroyed me. I offered it constantly while being met with emotional absence, social distortion, or outright rejection. I stayed in contact with others’ signals while losing all access to myself. By eleven, I had already stepped into complete self-exile. I erased needs, feelings, identity—yet the radar stayed fully engaged. I receive what others signal, even when they don’t speak. That capacity has always guided me. From the beginning, my gender expression placed me outside. I never entered the group; I observed it. I read what passed through the room and named what I sensed. It was necessary to keep me safe. It honed my high sensitivity and sensibility as well as the hyper-awareness. I was precise and clear in what I received and have, more often than was asked for, told it. Some welcomed that clarity. Others recoiled. My empathy offered presence, and it brought exposure. I saw what many preferred to keep hidden. I named what pressed below the surface. The few willing to receive it as a gift cherished it. The rest told me I was undiplomatic, too direct, too honest, too brutal (in my honesty), and unwelcome. And still—if you’re standing outside anyway, I thought, I can say the uncomfortable truth anyway. In those years, creativity stayed close to form. I worked through what I could perceive with my senses—light, edges, patterns, textures. I shaped what was clear. Today, I create differently. The field opens wider. What once stayed close to detail now flows with more range, more breath.
You speak of creative collaboration as a sacred space—I feel that, too. That kind of shared presence honors both process and person. We move from different roots, and I recognize the echo. I stand inside my own form, and I meet your reflection with full presence.
I feel like I’ve learned so much about you here. Thank you for feeling safe enough to share in this space. Do you feel like your observations of others in this life lends to your writing and creativity? Xx
A great piece Kaylen. I really enjoyed your reflections on how many empaths turn to art and creativity as a way to let out their big feelings. I TOTALLY feel that way!
I also totally relate to the magic of finding and following your passion. It is simply incredible how much powerful this can be. :)
You’re just so amazing. As a fellow empath, this opened my eyes to the experience in a different way. It also rooted me in the powerful perspective that there are others and they are people like you who I respect, admire, and love. Thank you for showing up for all of us and yourself! 🖤✨
Malaika!! You are 1000% a reflection of Big Love to me and I know SO MANY- COUNTLESS- others! Everything you touch is a communion with Big Love. I am consistently awed by your flow and creativity through words. Thank you for reading today! <3
I love this so much, Kaylen. I am (unsurprisingly) also an empath, and am right there with you learning how to let other people in. I'm great at telling other people stories, but it hasn't always been easy moving deeper into the sticky, porous, messy, beautiful emotions and fears that lie beneath the telling. I also really love how you talk about Big Love and how we are all participating in that love when we are pursuing our creative endeavors. Thank you for this wonderful, wise essay- I'll be thinking about it for some time to come! 💛✨
To think I scribbled something that resonated with you is the kindest mirror-reflection I could receive. Thank you so much for pausing here with me and for sharing that you feel it all too! You are such a special and influential presence in my life. I'm so happy to be here with you. <3
Thank you for being a mirror and soulmate!! I love everything about this piece today, it’s exactly what has been on my mind for about a week now! I’ve been thinking about all the ways creativity shows up, how all the things I love in this life are word based (except for the rare occasions when I find a piece of art that moves me). I thought about how songs are storytelling set to sounds. And how amazing it is that someone can sit down and hear a set of sounds and those sounds conjure words! Or how a set of words can conjure sounds!
Magic.
Anyway, that’s a little glimpse into my brain. I love you, thank you for the shoutout! And I hope you have a wonderfully magically delicious day!!
Hi hi hi!!!! I was thinking of you BIG TIME while watching the show!
I thought of your musical mama & papa and the creativity and chaos that ensued to make the music happen both on screen and off.
I don't know if you've seen or read it, but if you do- I'd LOVE to process with you!
I have...feelings LOL
Thank you for always showing up and speaking out and creating exactly what the world needs at the perfect moment. You are such a goddess. I cherish your presence and your publications.
Gahhhhhh I wish I could hug you. Thank you for pouring all that love into me just now, I needed it!!! And also - I watched the series and had big feelings about all of it, especially because of my background!!! I’d love to process it all with you!! :)
Kaylen— I move through what you name. Empathy has always lived in me—unfiltered, steady, alive. My EQ—which is said to be the emotional counterpoint to the IQ, and speaks to empathetic capacity—was measured under trauma in 1994 at 165. I am neurodivergent, highly sensitive, highly sensible, and multi-gifted. A scanner personality with many threads alive in me at once. What I haven’t received most of my life was empathy. What I almost gave up on was empathy. It helped me survive and almost destroyed me. I offered it constantly while being met with emotional absence, social distortion, or outright rejection. I stayed in contact with others’ signals while losing all access to myself. By eleven, I had already stepped into complete self-exile. I erased needs, feelings, identity—yet the radar stayed fully engaged. I receive what others signal, even when they don’t speak. That capacity has always guided me. From the beginning, my gender expression placed me outside. I never entered the group; I observed it. I read what passed through the room and named what I sensed. It was necessary to keep me safe. It honed my high sensitivity and sensibility as well as the hyper-awareness. I was precise and clear in what I received and have, more often than was asked for, told it. Some welcomed that clarity. Others recoiled. My empathy offered presence, and it brought exposure. I saw what many preferred to keep hidden. I named what pressed below the surface. The few willing to receive it as a gift cherished it. The rest told me I was undiplomatic, too direct, too honest, too brutal (in my honesty), and unwelcome. And still—if you’re standing outside anyway, I thought, I can say the uncomfortable truth anyway. In those years, creativity stayed close to form. I worked through what I could perceive with my senses—light, edges, patterns, textures. I shaped what was clear. Today, I create differently. The field opens wider. What once stayed close to detail now flows with more range, more breath.
You speak of creative collaboration as a sacred space—I feel that, too. That kind of shared presence honors both process and person. We move from different roots, and I recognize the echo. I stand inside my own form, and I meet your reflection with full presence.
—Jay
Jay 🤍🤍🤍
I feel like I’ve learned so much about you here. Thank you for feeling safe enough to share in this space. Do you feel like your observations of others in this life lends to your writing and creativity? Xx
A great piece Kaylen. I really enjoyed your reflections on how many empaths turn to art and creativity as a way to let out their big feelings. I TOTALLY feel that way!
I also totally relate to the magic of finding and following your passion. It is simply incredible how much powerful this can be. :)
Michael!! I’m so excited to learn this resonates on your end! Do you have a favorite read about creativity?!
Also, would you want to participate in an email interview about the creative process and how you tap into it, ever??
If yes: blink once
If no: assign Nyx to inform me and pack extra snacks (for both of us)
You’re just so amazing. As a fellow empath, this opened my eyes to the experience in a different way. It also rooted me in the powerful perspective that there are others and they are people like you who I respect, admire, and love. Thank you for showing up for all of us and yourself! 🖤✨
Malaika!! You are 1000% a reflection of Big Love to me and I know SO MANY- COUNTLESS- others! Everything you touch is a communion with Big Love. I am consistently awed by your flow and creativity through words. Thank you for reading today! <3
This means more than you know. 🖤🖤✨
Mmmmmm yes! This is why I write. Well said! ✨️❤️✨️
I feel it in your writing! In Pearly. 😍✨