I interviewed a retired man who’s going back to Africa to do volunteer work. I took his photo and did some artwork. 7/25/15
Do you think being sensitive is a strength or a weakness?
I think it is a weakness. I am so sensitive that I started to cry when I left Africa. I’m so caring. I’m am sensitive to the tenth degree. I think it came from my mother who told me that I’m no good at things, so I try to make myself do too much to be caring .
I don’t think my mother was caring . She was a phony. So as a result, I’m so caring, it’s beyond belief. I think in a sense I’m happy how I am, but I think I do more than I probably should, so I’m more sensitive than I should be, more than other people and I do not understand why.
I believe that what I do for people is a good thing but I believe the sensitivity part is a weakness because it hurts me.
I cried a lot when I came back home from Africa. I felt so involved in the poverty I feel frustrated with people here that they don’t look at what is going on outside their own environment and they are all so worried about their I-pods and I-pads. I start judging them which I shouldn’t do .
Yes it hurts to be sensitive but it can also be motivating.
Yes it motivates me, that’s why I’m going back to Africa. That’s the point. I felt so wanting to assist more and help more. I’m going back to do some teaching children and eye and ear testing. I became the opposite of my narcissistic phony mother. I don’t know why, it’s difficult to say.
Some go the opposite way and some go the same way.
sensitive strength 
This man’s sensitivity is a powerful strength, enabling him to perform what Jewish tradition calls Tikkun Olam, the repairing of the world. He uses his sensitivity as a strength to heal pain. And I think he is courageous to describe his sensitivity as a weakness. He obviously is strong enough, secure enough, to acknowledge his own weaknesses. We need to know our weaknesses, our vulnerability, to best utilize our strengths.