I recently had the opportunity to read Candy’s book, Beautifully Aware: A Year of Sensitive Living. As I processed what I’d read, all I could think was that her authentic self-expression was truly a gift.

It is the gift of words from one Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) to another, the gift of interpreting the world through a unique lens, yet with our shared language.

It is the gift of validation, of not-aloneness, of being seen by a human you’ve never met, but who “gets” you on a deep level.

It is the gift of herself. Candy gives readers a peek into corners of her soul, moments of her existence, snapshots of her world. She explores how HSPs have the capacity to enter the depths and heights emotions, senses, and experiences. She models the courage this takes and the mess it makes.

I have a Spiderman-loving eight year old HSP son. He and I often talk about how to manage his “spidey senses” – how cool it is that he can feel others’ feelings, that he wants to stand up for what is right, and that he has to remember to eat! He knows he has a gift but that he must use it well, for “with great power comes great responsibility”.

So it is for us grown-ups with spidey senses. Our trait bestows upon us its joys and challenges (whether we like it or not) and this is where I see Beautifully Aware being the most useful – Candy gifts the reader a gentle guidebook to the responsibility and the power of being a Highly Sensitive Person.