I learned about HSPs and sacred space from Elaine Aron. Only recently, though, have I realized this is one of those spaces.

Hello dear readers! This comes with my sincerest wishes for a happy Thanksgiving for those of you who live in the U.S., and with gratitude for all of you who are reading, wherever you are. If you subscribed after my last post in August, welcome.

To those of you who sent supportive messages after my August update about the many losses our family experienced this spring, a deep bow of gratitude. Several of you said, in effect, “Take your time.” Your kind understanding helped me to realize —and accept—that I wasn’t yet ready to come back.

Now, I do feel ready. I’m glad. I’ve missed writing for you, and I don’t mean that in a casual way.

HSPs and sacred space

In her original book about the HSP trait, The Highly Sensitive Person, Elaine Aron celebrates the unique experience of presenting to a group of HSPs. She describes silence so deep you could hear a pin drop; a sense of deeply considerate, attentive listening; a tolerance for quiet and a ready willingness to pause, go within, and ponder; and a “hallowed kind of collective presence.”*

It hit me recently that although we may be far apart geographically, writing for you is another way of speaking into that hallowed collective presence Elaine describes. If we were together in a room, you’d be listening with great attentiveness and consideration to what I’m saying.

Without the attentive space you create, my words would have nowhere to go. I would have no reason to write. It’s that simple. We may not know each other directly, yet we have a relationship. Somehow, taking this break helped me see that, and to see what a gift it is to me to be received by you.

What you get is me, and only me—no AI

It’s my plan—lightly held, given all that has happened this year— to start publishing twice a month again. I might play with some videos, or a shorter format. We’ll see what unfolds. Whatever I send along, though, you have my word that I researched it, wrote it, and edited it.

You may have noticed that I posted a note to that effect at the bottom of my last article. It will appear on all future posts as well:

No AI was used in the production of this newsletter. All the words in it were written and edited either by me, or by other humans whose contributions are clearly quoted and credited.

More and more people are using an AI for some or all stages of their writing process. Does it matter that an article like this was written by a person? Emphatically, yes. A human being’s messy, personal experience matters, as does human judgment regarding the factual accuracy of the content. In the 10 years I’ve been writing for you, you’ve let me know that my articles are valuable to you because they are real. They come from the heart.

You get my insights and stories, from my limited point of view, informed by my strengths and flaws of judgment and my unique, wildly incomplete knowledge base. I’ve never pretended I knew everything or had the answers. AI has no such humility or perspective. Worse, its knowledge base is almost entirely co-opted without attribution. Stolen, to put it bluntly.

Authenticity matters.

Without it, you can’t create the sacred space Dr. Aron wrote about, which is so important to us as HSPs (and which the world badly needs now.)

All this to say: thank you for participating in this authentic exchange of me writing and you reading. I love it when you comment, but even when you don’t, I can feel you out there. Your attention is a gift to me, and I will always honor that gift by writing with authenticity.

Finally, I hope you’ll join me in noticing and actively supporting anyone in your sphere of attention who is creating original content. Our ability to discern and celebrate real human creation matters more than ever now.

*Aron, Elaine (2010): Psychotherapy and the Highly Sensitive Person, New York: Routledge.

Image: ©2025 Emily Agnew

Note: No AI was used in the production of this newsletter. All the words in it were written and edited either by me, or by other humans whose contributions are clearly quoted and credited.