I spent a good part of my life trying to fit into boxes—the "ideal" career path, social expectations, what everyone else wanted for me... and in the end? I rarely found the one that fit me. Not until travel and training gave me a few answers. What if this feeling of inadequacy wasn’t a reflection of social rejection, but rather of an internal misalignment? What if it was just the painful gap between who we’ve become and who we think we have  to be in order to be accepted? We

When I first was told that I might be gifted, I was 10 years old. It was my sister who kept telling my parents about it. But none of us were comfortable with the label, so we all ignored it. When I discovered I was an HSP, two friends reached out and questioned me about potentially being gifted. I cringed. "I'm not gifted; I'm so dumb." "I struggle way too much in life to be gifted." "If I were that gifted, I'd be good at everything I do, and I'm not." Yet, when I read about

What I love about this blog is that it reminds me just how much I've changed and grown over the last few years... From the post about my first days as a naive traveler in New Zealand to the more painful blog posts about grief in Norway after my dad's death, from my yoga and climbing courses to my complicated arrival in Canada, words have always been like a bridge between you and me. They have often calmed my difference because it's through them that I've been able to say out

For most of us, and especially sensitive women (and neuro-divergent souls), self-love is not an easy task... But, self-reflection & journaling can really help. As the year draws to a close, it's a perfect time (or excuse) to slow down and recognise how 2023 really went. I personally always find that looking back at the past year, allows me to celebrate and acknowledge growth and victories, even the smallest one. As a highly sensitive person, I self-reflect all year long, (ye

This was the first book I read about Highly Sensitive People so it felt natural to start with this one as the first book recommendation! It's how I actually discover the concept of HSP itself... Simply put, being an HSP is a character trait, a personality trait, in which you experience life three times more intensely than someone who is not HSP. Dr. Elaine N. Aron , was the first one to introduce the concept, in her book The Highly Sensitive Person, published in 1996. She was

WHAT A YEAR?! I can't believe how far I've come in the last year, and to be honest, since I left my life in Paris 6 years ago... 2022 will have been a year full of twists and turns and learning. I remember that a year ago, I started full of doubts and fears about my choices, about my life here in Canada, or in Nelson. I felt like I had lost complete control over my life. As if I no longer had any freedom. As if someone had taken over my pen and was writing the chapters for me

Love. It's been a subject in my life and I think as an HSP, it always has been a priority. But in some ways, for many years, I have a feeling I had it all wrong. There is something with love and connection that could make me lose my mind. If I over feel all the little things in my life, can you imagine what it is to over feel positive energies ? I mean, it's easy to imagine an overflowing sadness, but gosh, can you imagine a tsunami of joy, positivity and love ? The kind tha

When I started my journey into self-discovery 6 years ago, I was convinced that putting people in boxes would never ever help them. Since I was little, I would do everything and anything to not be categorized in a box. Not even the "frenchie" one (that is a good description of who I am) when I first travelled to New Zealand. To me, it was like if boxes would reduce all that I am to one thing only. However, finding out about Highly Sensitive People a bit over a year ago, has r

In Coco's adventures on Caribooland, here is Coco, conquering herself, episode 238... (All the pictures are at the bottom of the article ;)) THE PRICE OF HAPPINNESS ? I don't think that since I landed in Canada, I have ever appreciated this country as much as the angle from which I am rediscovering it right now. It's without ties and without conditions that I can finally enjoy this place. Almost like if it could finally begin... To be honest, many times I thought of leaving.

Discovering my highly sensitive character trait last year put me on a rollercoaster for a few months. So to imagine for even two seconds that I could belong to another category of so-called "atypical" profiles was almost impossible... And yet... It took me a few months of reading, listening to podcasts and questioning before I came to this question: AND IF I WAS A SO-CALLED HIGH POTENTIAL ? I may sound like a complete idiot, but when I wrote to my sister to share my doubts an

It's been a few weeks since I had to finish this series of articles on choice (article 1: why is it difficult to choose and article 2: 9 tools to learn to choose ) and the reason for my silence was nothing other than my inability to make a choice... These last few months I have been very divided in my life choices. Keeping my job, leaving my job, staying in Nelson, leaving Nelson, going back to my freelance job, changing careers... My need for freedom is often seen as instab

(continuation of the first article entitled "Why is it so difficult to choose" published a few days ago) Choosing... I have just spent 6 stressful months wondering which program I would use to apply for permanent residency in Canada. 6 months of hesitation, of listening to the advice of others, of sometimes not sleeping at night and of constant anxiety... 6 months that I explore on all sides, whereas since the beginning, I am well aware that there is only one program that re

A year and a half in Canada. A year and a half without returning to France, to spend some time with my friends and family. God knows how fast the time has passed and at the same time, how long it has been. As I prepare to take the plane for a family reunion that will be powerful and very short at the same time, I'm taking some time to write and share with you a little bit of my life in Canada. On the agenda today : a summary of these last six months between autumn and winter

Imagine the scene, I am in a Thai restaurant, in New Zealand, with my boyfriend of the time. It's the first time we've been here but like every single time I'm in this kind of restaurant, my heart goes out to a curry. He tries to convince me to be a little more adventurous and try something new for once. I hesitate, the stress rises in me, I love all the dishes in sauce that are on the menu but I have such a big fear of being disappointed that I dare not choose. Panic-stricke

"You have to learn to feel your emotions, to accept them, so you can learn to manage them." "You have to observe your reactions so you can stop them." "Mindfulness on a daily basis is the key." These are typical sentences that I heard myself say over and over again, by my friends, by my therapists, by my teachers... Sentences that, despite their kindness, have never had any other effect on me than to make me feel more like a failure than the others. And it is this same feelin

J'accepte la grande aventure d'être moi Simone de Beauvoir "I accept the great adventure of being me" This great adventure evoked by Simone de Beauvoir, is something that struck me during my first travels. At the beginning it was simple, if I hadn't taken my courage in both hands to assert myself and appreciate myself as I was, I surely wouldn't have gone very far. However, it was with a bit of a lump in my stomach and a rather shy attitude that I spent my first trips... unti

Sometimes, I catch myself trying to make sense of it. Because I can't just sit and wait. I WANT to understand. I NEED to understand how and why we ended up in the crazy world we live in. And to me, it doesn't make any sense. I want the world to change. I want to help. I try to do what I can. But when I wake up on days like last Thursday, all I can do is freeze. I felt literally iced by the news. All I wanted to do was to run away from it. Hide for a day. And live my life, lik

To all of my past self and to all of the future ones... I've already experienced many flashbacks of past moments in my life. However, yesterday's flashback was like a slap in the face when I woke up. While I was watching a movie shot in Ireland, I gradually remembered my trip in May 2017... In this picture, I am 26 years old. This is my second solo trip. And despite my smile, in real life, in my head, at that moment, I was completely lost. I had just gotten out of a relations

Love, in general, is already challenging, so love for HSP's, well, hello damage. I have always felt that I fall in love more intensely than others. When I look back at my teenage writings, I almost only talk about love. I have always had the desire, even the obsession, to understand where these feelings came from, why I felt things so intensely and why I always threw myself blindly into my relationships. Self-love, on the other hand, was a very late discovery. I had never co

Do you remember the story of the Princess and the pea ? This is the story of a young prince in search of a "real" princess. He went all over the world but had great difficulty in finding his better half. He was never sure if his suitors were real princesses. One evening, as the storm raged outside, a young girl arrived at the castle, her dress and hair completely soaked. She had gotten lost after fleeing a battle in her distant country, and announced that she was a real princ