I interviewed an art students in New Paltz and took her photo.
Do you think being sensitive is a strength or a weakness?
I think sensitivity is definitely a strength. The more sensitive and open you are to other people and your environment, the more you can draw from that. It’s very important to be open to that. The more closed off you are, you’re not going to expand yourself. You have to be open in order to grow.
Look at a plant. First its real small but then it expands in all directions. We have to be like that. We can’t just go one way and force things in one direction we have to be open to expand to the edges of everything.
I see it with my art work, if I’m really stressed out like with my schoolwork , I’ll notice like my art is forced and not really reflective of who I am. If I’m comfortable with what is going on, just taking everything in, then it works a lot better and I think everyone kind of functions like that
But it’s like when you try and push it one way, it does not really work. We need to grow and expand like the plants.
sensitive strength 
This student at New Paltz is herself a lovely flower in a garden. Her comments are sensitive, and she has the strength of sensitivity. I thought of the “sensitive plant”, mimosa, which is responsive to touch, which folds its leaves when touched, but which has the strength to creep along the ground, to spread throughout a garden. This student is using her sensitivity creatively, and will develop and grow throughout her life….