Irene Sleight

A reflection on identity, belonging, and what happens when you stop trying to fit into stories never made for you.

Today, I no longer treat anxiety as a flaw to fix. I treat it as a compass.
I regulate my nervous system through rhythm, space, and honesty.
It’s more than a schedule—it’s a standard of care I’ve created for myself.

I’ve always been wired to connect—with people, places, energy. But that same openness often leaves me overwhelmed. This is what it looks like to be a highly sensitive extrovert: craving connection, absorbing everything, and learning how to stay whole.

I’ve always been wired to feel life more deeply—mentally, emotionally, physically. But for years, I didn’t have the language for my experience. Diagnosed with ADHD in my twenties, I spent decades trying to make sense of my sensitivity, my panic attacks, and my constant search for calm in a world that felt too loud.