Did you see the story yesterday about the shar-pei dog that was abandoned at a train station in Scotland? Look at this:
This headline and photo do me in. Oh man, it hits me right in the heart.
For three reasons.
The importance of kindred spirits
January 2, 2015 by 6 Comments
The first time I heard the phrase kindred spirit was from the popular Anne of Green Gables TV series from the mid-1980s, which was adapted from the L.M. Montgomery novels. The character of Anne Shirley used the term kindred spirits to talk about intimate friends, people with whom who she felt she could bare her soul. She held these people dear to her heart and was fiercely loyal to them.
Susan Cain, author of the introvert juggernaut book Quiet, used the phrase kindred spirits in an interview with Marie Forleo a while back. She said-in terms of networking events-that many people think success is walking away with a handful of business cards. For her, she is simply looking for one kindred spirit. There is usually at least one at every party or networking event. These are people with whom you connect and have chemistry. People you want to get to know stay in touch with.
We go through life, collecting kindred spirits-people we feel connected to in our heart.
This rings true for me. [Read more…]
Do you use high sensitivity as a crutch?
December 23, 2014 by 4 Comments
I’ve mentioned several times about how my husband Jim has tried to understand my high sensitivity.
At first, he didn’t buy into the idea at all. Slowly, over time, I could tell he was accepting it more. He was able to observe, realtime, my visceral reactions to things that I’d told him about re: HSP. [Read more…]
HSP Podcast #22: Emotional Cutting
December 9, 2014 by 5 Comments
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Emotional cutting is reading or watching things that hurt us emotionally…but we keeping doing them anyway. I do this when I look at dog rescues on Facebook that show when animals were saved or euthanized.
Why do I, and other HSPs, seek out this pain? Even though it hurts, sometimes makes me cry, and can take a long time to recover from, I still do it. Do I, deep down, want the pain?
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Related posts on this blog:
- Emotional cutting: Reading things that make me sad
- HSP Podcast #10: HSPs & Animals
- Compassion Fatigue
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Podcast music attribution: By the Coast (2004) (Antony Raijekov) / CC BY-NC 2.5
HSP Podcast Episode 20: Anticipatory Grief
November 25, 2014 by 10 Comments
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Anticipatory grief is a grief reaction that occurs before an impending loss, typically, the death of someone close to you. This episode is about how us HSPs can experience this grief more than others, and not just about death.
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Resources mentioned in this episode:
Related posts on this blog:
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Podcast music attribution: By the Coast (2004) (Antony Raijekov) / CC BY-NC 2.5
Anticipatory Grief
November 7, 2014 by 27 Comments
Anticipatory grief is a grief reaction that occurs before an impending loss, typically, the death of someone close to you. Anyone can experience it.
But for HSPs, anticipatory grief can be more than that. [Read more…]
Aging, Inevitability, and the Loss of Uniqueness
October 29, 2014 by 19 Comments
When I was a young kid, I remember wondering why women on TV and in movies would make jokes about lying about their age or not wanting to admit their age. I thought it was so stupid; who cares how old you are? I completely, totally did not comprehend why it was a bad thing to admit your age as an adult woman.
Well, now that I’ve been on the wrong side of 30 for a while, I get it. For me, the age hesitation is not because I’m ashamed or don’t want people to know. It’s more like I personally can’t believe how old I am! How did this happen? When did I become old!? Also, I don’t want people to judge me or think of me differently once they know my age. [Read more…]
Empathy toward other people’s loss
October 22, 2014 by 5 Comments
Us HSPs pick up on the emotions of others, including pain and sadness. It can stay with us and bother us more than others.
There are tons of examples I could talk about, but one popped into my head the other day. It was something I haven’t really thought about in over fifteen years, and it was interesting to examine it all over again in the lens of high sensitivity. [Read more…]
Weather Affects My Mood
October 20, 2014 by 5 Comments
I grew up in Michigan then lived in New York, where winters are freezing and snowy and summers are hot and humid. Now I live in San Diego, in Southern California, which has arguably the best weather in the country. There aren’t discernible seasons: it’s nice year-round, with little rain and temperatures that never approach freezing. [Read more…]
HSP Podcast #14: So. Much. Empathy.
October 14, 2014 by 10 Comments
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Episode 14 of the Highly Sensitive Person Podcast is about empathy, which is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another being. I talk about wondering if Muay Thai fighters are lonely or sad…and crying about the tragedies of people I don’t think I have a right to be that sad about.
Mentioned on this episode: Dr. Elaine Aron’s empathy brain study
Further reading:
- On this blog: Fearing other people’s death
- On this blog: Feeling the physical pain of others
- The Condolence Note Coach website - a wonderful resource helping people deal with and write condolence notes
- A Few Suggestions for “Regulating” Fear, Grief, Anger, and Joy by Elaine Aron
- Being empathic versus being empath - crucial differences
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Podcast music attribution: By the Coast (2004) (Antony Raijekov) / CC BY-NC 2.5
