Sensitivity Journaling, My Experience, and examples.

What is sensitivity journaling?

Sensitivity journaling is a tangible form of sitting with your feelings.

This practice is journaling about a particular feeling in order to better understand it and develop a healthy relationship with it.

 relationship to your feelings is the same you have with people; it's knowing what you appreciate, what you'll accept, and what boundaries you have.

In sensitivity journaling, you choose a feeling, name it, describe its sensations, triggers, and how you'd like to respond to it.

My Experience

Sensitivity journaling forces me to notice the attitude I have towards a feeling.

That goes beyond categorizing the feeling as "good" or "bad".

I ask ponder over things like:

Do I fear it?

Does it cause an impulsive reaction?

Do I leverage it?

How can I be friends with it?

What is this feeling here to serve me for?

Example: Swump:

For example, in this entry I named a feeling "swump" AKA "power-saving mode".

It feels depressive but it's not depression.

It is low energy, low motivation, and it comes and goes.

I tend to strictly mind my priorities during this time and let everything else be.

The clear ink here is in the negative connotation of "swump" (hence why it's AKA "power-saving mode").

Anyway, the swumps used to bother me before I started actively questioning them them.

I worried that something was wrong with me because I had a happiness-addict type attitude.

Today, as long as my priorities are being tended to, there is no need for me to worry about the feeling.

No running any non-essential apps.

And yeah, I might just play The Sims instead of engaging in over-achiever activities.

I do my best to not be a happiness-addict, always chasing the next thing to make me feel "up".

---

(Expand for a quick sidebar on "happiness addict".

Before journaling inquiring on swumps, I worried something was wrong with me because I assumed happiness should be my default state but that's, for me, unnatural and unnecessary. I feel much better when I just let myself be. I'm a human, so human feelings are going to happen. I do my best to not be a happiness-addict, always chasing the next thing to make me feel "up".

I know "happiness addict" sounds weird. Who wouldn't want to be happy? Isn't life all about chasing happiness? The issue, for me, with always having to be happy is that it implies that all other feelings are a problem. Plus, I much rather be okay with ALL of my feelings, not just select ones. So, I personify them and I assume they are all trying to do me some sort of good, even if I don't understand what that is yet. At the very least, I can appreciate their effort (even when misguided) and then gently takeover from there. That's why sensitivity journaling is spiritual integrity in action.

---

They're just feelings.

I didn't gain this attitude overnight. It took some work.

I'd say therapy helped. Not because I did a particular kind of therapy, or because we focused on naming and analyzing feelings, but because I was physically in a place where feelings were allow the right to be.

Where else are they granted this?

There was no reaction of "oh no" toward my feelings, short of them causing me harm (e.g. skipping work or treating myself poorly). But, that's about BEHAVIOR, not feelings.

Sensitivity journaling and curiosity are partners. They're brave around fear.

If you're willing to ask about something, that's demonstrating bravery.

Usually when we are afraid of something, we want nothing to do with it. We just decide it's threatening and that's it. We get avoidant, rather than inquisitive.

If you want a low-stakes way to feel less threatened by feelings, try sensitivity journaling.🥰

Example Two: Mask

For quite a while I identified with social anxiety. There is no formal diagnosis, but, I still related to a lot of experiences reported by people with social anxiety.

I also danced between calling it self-consciousness, social awkwardness, or neurodivergent masking. I could relate to aspects of all 3 and I have (or had) a fear of being misunderstood.

I decided to lean into calling it "masking" because

"self-consciousness" felt invalidating, and "social anxiety" felt overly clinical.

(This is a good place to remind you that you should be working with wellness professionals. The internet is both a library and a dumpster, including this site. Please don't just diagnose yourself with something. Instead, see if any of the techniques used to accommodate or manage these experiences work for you).

Continuing on, I used my sensitivity journal to discuss masking and I employed anger as a friend in that. Here's the entry, I've redacted what's too personal:

This entry is declarative. I was tired of withholding myself.

There's more clear ink in "dilution". I put that to declare that masking is a dilution of myself.

Here, I chose a motivational angle, deciding why unmasking is important to me and using anger to assert that I deserve to live fully.

What did sensitivity journaling do?

SWUMP:

I embrace power-saving mode. I don't fight it, argue with it, or question it.

It's okay to limit my output to priorities.

When it comes around, I name my priorities. When I feel guilt surrounding my rest, if I judge the feeling, I say to myself I'm on power-saving mode and deliberate on if that "app" really needs to run.

(E.g. Is it procrastination if it genuinely doesn't need to be done right not?

Is my world going to implode if I don't do this today?

Are my goals still being met?

Am I still taking care of my body?

Do I need to spend time with friends / family? Do I need a self-date?

What would serve me best right now?

Am I avoiding or is this really restful?

Is this a productive pause or am I being lazy?).

Basically having an internal this-that session.

MASK:

I take risks. I'm okay with being misunderstood, really. If I'm misunderstood, that is proof that I put myself out there regardless of what other folks thing, I take that as a win.

Bottom Line:

Sensitivity journaling has made me interact with feelings and plan for them with compassion, non-judgement, and discernment. 💗