How to deal with overwhelming parties & gatherings

Recently, I traveled to the other side of the country to visit family and friends. While there, I found myself at a big family party. It’s been so long since I’d been in that situation! It reminded me how hours-long parties can wear on me, no matter how much I like those in attendance.

At big family parties, there may be loud people, music, dancing, cooking, singing, and talking, of course. And people might drink a bit too much and act a little wild and unpredictable.

Here are my tips on how to deal with long parties. These tips are mainly for when you feel tapped out on the small talk and overwhelmed by people. And yes, these tips are more geared toward introverts than extroverts.

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Podcast Ep. 47: Overwhelmed by Parties

Recently, I found myself at a big family party. Even though I liked everyone there, and was happy to be there, it did remind me how hours-long parties can wear on me, no matter how much I like the people there.overwhelmed by party

This episode includes my tips on how to deal with overwhelm at long parties.

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The importance of kindred spirits

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…]

HSP vs. Non-HSP: The Challah Debacle

Random Story Time!

Something happened a few days ago that I think nicely illustrates the difference between a highly sensitive person (me) and a non-HSP (my husband Jim).

Jim and I were invited to a Rosh Hashanah dinner at a friend’s house. She told us to bring two loaves of challah bread. [Read more…]

Let’s “get some drinks”

After going to a party, a group dinner, or hanging out with people, extraverts will often say: Where are we going next?

It reminds me of something my super-extravert husband does that drives me up the wall.

We’ll have a lovely dinner with friends, and we’ve paid the check and are ready to leave, and he says, “Let’s go get some drinks!”

Arrghhhh….no! [Read more…]

Should you tell people that you are an HSP?

Think of a time you tried to explain high sensitivity to someone who’d never heard of it before. Maybe it was a friend, family member, or even a co-worker.

And, as you are talking, you can tell from their face that they aren’t buying it.

[Read more…]