Hello, I'm Whitney

I’m a forest-wandering, slow living, highly sensitive introvert. I want this space to be a safe, cozy, slow community where quiet souls can feel connected and at peace.

I love to share bits and pieces of my nature-inspired simple life to hopefully bring a little calm and quiet into your day.

Offering an authentic space away from the hustle of modern society.

I spent most of my life feeling in the wrong because of my sensitive and introverted nature. I had no guidance or role models to look up to who understood and embraced being a highly sensitive quiet soul.

I spent too many years feeling like there was no place for me and no one else like me in this world. This became the motivation for me to create this online space and to bring my love of nature and slow living to the mix.

I was always known as the shy kid growing up and was told often how I was too quiet and way too sensitive. And while some of these tendencies stemmed from being insecure, I know now that I was also a highly sensitive introvert, which was a term that I wouldn’t become familiar with until I was 28 years old. I simply believed there was something deeply wrong with me.

Feeling so out of place combined with deep insecurities and low self-esteem meant I began dealing with both anxiety and depression at a young age. As I moved through my teens and twenties, I attempted to fit in and follow my peers, doing my best to shove my shyness aside. But I was trying to live a life that didn’t suit my true nature, and for many years, I simply ignored the fact that my mental health was getting steadily worse.

In 2015, I hit bottom.

After years of working in the busy and chaotic hospitality industry, partying almost every night, and not dealing with any of my mindset and confidence issues, I hit bottom. I was completely burnt out, unhealthy, exhausted, and deeply depressed — so I moved back into my parents’ house and began navigating how to heal. I started to learn about who I really was and what I really wanted in this life. I changed jobs, let go of friends, paid attention to my health, and worked on my mindset.

I made the connection that I was both highly sensitive and introverted, and that didn’t mean I was flawed or broken. It just meant I needed to discover how I best moved through the world around me and to set boundaries surrounding my energy. I discovered slow and simple living and realized that this was the lifestyle that suited me, this was how I felt my best. I let go (and continue to do so) of so many rules from others about how to live, how to succeed, how to find happiness — and instead, learned to listen to my own inner guidance.

I created this online space for other sensitive introverted souls. I want you to know that you are not flawed.

There is nothing wrong with being sensitive or quiet or choosing a simple life.

Introverts may love their solitude, but that doesn’t mean we don’t value connection.

So if you’re finding you’d like to connect with another highly sensitive introverted soul — my email is always open. Share your story, tell me if you resonated with something I’ve shared, or just say hi.

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hello@whitneybarkman.ca