What is a Wild Sensitive?
September 13, 2026 | Posted in Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
As I’ve been writing about Highly Sensitive People and High Sensation Seekers, a Wild Sensitive is a term coined by authors Randy Grasser and Annet van Duinen to describe what is otherwise known as a Sensitive Sensation Seeker. The community understands it is a mouthful to always say the entire descriptor of our unique traits that have paradoxically blended together to form our life’s foundation, hence the term Wild Sensitive. Those with this trait have a need for deep reflection and a craving for new experiences. Recent research has shown even more evidence of differences in the brain of Sensitive Sensation Seekers/Wild Sensitives.
If you’re not already familiar with these terms – first read the last few blog posts describing the four characteristics each of Highly Sensitives and High Sensation Seekers, then this will make much more sense. Sensitivity is not the problem, misunderstanding it or even knowing it exists is the issue and society’s interpretation of it is a problem. Though there does come some struggle along with the strengths it provides. Some struggles may include burnout and overwhelm, boundary setting, heightened emotional reactivity, social exhaustion and over-stimulation. The book covers strategies to handle these struggles as well as how to foster the strengths of deep empathy and emotional insight, creativity and rich imagination, detail-oriented perception and intuition, and strength of ethical awareness and social conscientiousness. If these traits sound familiar to you – YOU NEED THIS BOOK.
To quote their book The Wild Sensitive, “Sensitivity is not a weakness. Craving life is not a flaw. You were never meant to simply fit in. You were meant to awaken, to feel deeply, to grow wisely, and to live wildly: This is where your journey begins. This is where you become a Wild Sensitive”. The book’s intro goes on. “It is not a contradiction, but a potent combination. When these traits are seen, understood, and embraced, they become the foundation for real, embodied, transformation.”
Their Wild Sensitive book describes the science behind sensitivity and sensation seeking. It is a guidebook for learning about the Sensitive Sensation Seeking trait with many tools for using when you are feeling overwhelmed, along with explanations of why/how this happens, understanding your emotional blueprint, and strategies for coping with dysregulation. It covers the Six Zones of Life, The Adventure Triskelion, relationships and leadership of the Wild Sensitive and how you can make your way through the world armed with better knowledge of how your traits work together to form your superpower and not your downfall.
The Wild Sensitive: Unlocking the Power of the Highly Sensitive Sensation Seeker
by Randy Grasser (Author), Annet van Duinen (Author), Tracy Cooper Ph.D (Foreword)
Written by Randy Grasser and Annet van Duinen, pioneering authors specializing in the Highly Sensitive Sensation Seeker (HSP-HSS), this guide explores the powerful combination of Sensory Processing Sensitivity and High Sensation Seeking, creators of The Wild Sensitive. Drawing on lived experience, research, and practical insight, it offers a new understanding of what it means to feel deeply and live boldly.
I cannot begin to explain what insights this book has brought to my life. I usually dog-ear the top corner of the pages of a book that speak to me, then I dog-ear the bottom corner if it REALLY speaks to me and then I may highlight a sentence. Well…. I stopped dogearing all the pages after the first several pages because it was nearly every single page, AND I was not only highlighting sentences and paragraphs, I started putting highlighted stars and exclamation points and multiple stars and exclamation points on specific paragraphs. I felt like Annet and Randy were in my brain and in my life and had the incredibly insightful, professional, therapeutic terms, explanations, diagnostic tools and prescriptions for dealing with this quite perplexing complexity of being a Highly Sensitive Person as well as a High Sensation Seeking Extroverted Empath. There just wasn’t anything on the market out there perfectly describing my lifestyle, my inherent traits and how to cope, manage, and organize my life to support my internal and external self.
Yes, they use the word WILD, but that doesn’t mean reckless or that you need to be sky diving and bungee jumping – though that is what I’ve been drawn to, it can mean your sense of boldness and expression – writing a book, singing, being a public speaker, traveling to foreign countries, learning a new language. If you or anybody you know is Highly Sensitive, but seem larger than just being sensitive, they do things that make them feel ALIVE and they get bored easily or are more disinhibited than others, then tell them about this book. AND send them to the websites the authors have initiated to create a community of fellow Wild Sensitives where we can learn and discuss in a safe space. Here are their sites: https://wildsensitive.com/ and the village community site: https://village.wildsensitive.com/
Cut: Cut the crap
May 19, 2018 | Posted in Leading Hartfully, Living Hartfully | By Gaia Hart
Cut out the extraneous stuff and go directly to the heart of what matters most. Being direct with other people, with clarity of intention add going for what you want without excessive distractions enhances your chances of success with less effort. Cut out bad habits, superfluous stuff, obligations, and behaviors that aren’t working for you. We tend to behave in ways that get us what we want. Figuring out the payoff for our actions will help us cut through the crap that gets in the way.
Our motivations behind our behaviors are generally about validating our self worth and the image that we have of ourselves. What kinds of images are you fostering and validating by your behavior? Are you being as direct and forthright with your thoughts, words, and actions, or are you losing precious energy beating around the bush and piling it on. Cutting through the miscommunication and misunderstandings of the symptoms and going directly to the root cause of an issue saves us undue wear and tear on our relationship with ourselves and others.
Being decisive saves energy. Cutting through to a direct decision without wasting emotional and mental energy stewing about it will preserve your nerves and will alleviate the emotional drain of second-guessing yourself. Be firm in your conviction and ability to make good decisions and leave out all the other waffling once you’ve made up your mind. Take a deep look to see if you can cut through some crap in your communication, your decision making, or your relationships to release some pent up energy.
