When you feel joy, discomfort, emotions, and empathy intensely
It’s frequently debated in pop culture whether certain controversial topics are ok to joke about. Rape, pedophilia, and racial violence are frequently among these cringe-y topics. Is it ok to make jokes about rape? Isn’t comedy about pushing boundaries? How much time must pass after a terrible incident before people can joke about it? It’s all just words, isn’t it? [Read more…]
How is Sensory Processing Disorder related or unrelated to high sensitivity? In some ways they are very different, but in others, there appears to be some overlap.
First of all, Sensory Processing Disorder is a disorder, and high sensitivity isn’t.
Sensory Processing Disorder means that your brain isn’t getting the information needed to interpret your senses. This can make everyday tasks difficult. “A person with SPD may over-respond to sensation and find clothing, physical contact, light, sound, food, or other sensory input to be unbearable. Another might under-respond and show little or no reaction to stimulation, even pain or extreme hot and cold.” (source: spdfoundation.net)
As Dr. Elaine Aron writes, if there is an obvious red flag in a child’s development-like not rolling over by 7 months or not walking by 18 months-this is not just high sensitivity.
But in other instances, it is not so clear cut.
The overlap could occur where less-obvious Sensory Processing Disorder symptoms could be interpreted as regular sensitivity-when a person is deemed too sensitive to things. Do they have Sensory Processing Disorder or are they just highly sensitive?
For more information, read Dr. Elaine Aron’s explanation of the difference between HSP and SPD. (It’s much better than mine.)
And visit the Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation.
photo credit gratisography.com
It gets really hot in New York in the summer. 90 degrees isn’t unusual. When I lived and worked in Westchester County, just outside NYC, my coworkers always seemed to want to eat lunch in the courtyard outside our workplace. Even when it was like 90 degrees and humid.
most people think this looks like a pleasant lunch. it looks like bug bites, sunburn, and sweat to me.
Their reasoning was that since they were stuck inside all day, lunch was their one time to escape and be outside. I understand that, but I also didn’t want to sweat in my nice work clothes when an air conditioned building was right next to me. Does. not. compute.
I remember once opening the door to the outdoor patio at work and it felt like air from a furnace hit me in the face. “You guys, it is really hot outside… are you sure you don’t want to eat inside with the A/C?” came my whiny plea. No, they inexplicably just HAD to be outside. Even though we were suffering the entire time.
The main reason for this omission is because I am not an extrovert. (btw, it can also be spelled extravert). I didn’t feel right writing about a topic with which I wasn’t that familiar.
So, I surveyed several self-identified extroverted HSPs to better understand their trait. Here is what I found.
Jim and I went to an event a few days ago that was holding a spicy wing eating contest.
I was immediately excited because Jim never thinks anything is spicy. I’ve only seen him not eat something spicy once in all the years I’ve known him. (It was a ghost pepper bloody mary.)
I was so excited about it that he pretty much had no choice but to enter the contest.
Us HSPs not only have good manners, we often notice when other people’s don’t. If my husband and I are shopping and he asks an associate for help, then I don’t hear him say Thank You, I quietly hiss, “you didn’t say thank you!” (and then I feel bad about being annoying.)
One of my pet peeves is when I am telling a story and someone interrupts me, and then they don’t acknowledge the fact they interrupted me, or they keep talking and let my story remain unfinished. To me, that is incredibly rude and disrespectful. If I interrupt someone, I try to be careful to fix the situation. I’ll finish my thought and then say, “Sorry, I interrupted you-what were you saying?” or, “Please finish your story”, or, I will ask a specific question to show I was listening to their story and, in a small way, apologize for interrupting. [Read more…]
A few years ago, never would I have used the word “creative” to describe myself.
Creative people were painters, sculptors, poets, architects, designers. That’s not me.
I grew up thinking that being creative or artistic was sort of a waste of time-creativity wasn’t practical or of real value. Creative people were dreamers. I wanted to be a person who got things done!
Of course, I eventually realized this was a dumb way to think.
Did you see the story yesterday about the shar-pei dog that was abandoned at a train station in Scotland? Look at this:
For three reasons.
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…]
Simply learning about what it means to be an HSP can change the way you see yourself and your place within the world.
