One more excellent new philosophy I've found in 2006. What a golden year for me.
I am definitely a "Highly Sensitive Person".
About 20% of the population are.
If you are not, imagine somebody turning up the volume on all your perceptions by 500%, 24/7. That's about it. For me anyway.
I'm reading this book, it's great.
22 comments:
I fall into that catagory of Highly Sensitive People. I wish I didn't but I do. Maybe it's because of the way I was raised?
Rejection for me is a difficult thing. But I try to take it in stride.
My overly sensitive personality has benighted my intentions quite a bit in life. I never want to hurt people or be misunderstood but it happens.
I'd rather have peace than war. Fighting is useless energy really (unless it's of dire straights) wouldn't you agree?
I don't know where I'll end up or what will become of me but I only hope that people will remember that I tried to be a good person with honest intentions.
I still have dreams left.....meeting my soulmate, seeing London, Israel, Germany, The south of France...I don't know if these things will ever occur but it's still nice to dream isn't it?
A fine man like you needn't suffer an unfulfilled fancy.
Thank you Lucid for your encouragement. That means so much to hear. Honest. I too consider you my friend and a very bright young man.
I'll take your words to heart. Again, thanks for the boost in confidence :) Have a great day!
Six oclock this morning in Santa Fe, New Mexico, still on vacation, I decided to go to the gym at the condominium where we were staying. I was feeling rather heavy from all the food I had eaten this week, and was dragging my body along. There was a woman on the treadmill and her friend next to her, both full of energy, and good spirits. I so appreciated them there, so early, laughing, working out, starting their day that way. I made note of them and sent them a blessing, as they woke me up.
Four hours later that same woman sat happened to choose the seat next to me on the plane to New York. Quite a coincidence. She and I had a wonderful talk. She said she is 51, divorced, and five months ago met the man who is now her fiance. She seemed so happy. She also looked fabulous. She said she is normally very sensitive about talking to strangers about such things, but she had been in the habit of sitting silently in church, not during services but alone, just blessing her life and all the people in it, thanking God for the good things. She wasn't looking for anything to happen. Then, this beautiful man showed up, and they have been companions ever since. They are soon to be married.
When she first sat next to me, I, being one of the "highly sensitive" sort, thought, oh no, now I'll have to talk on the plane ride! I always tend to be so solitary. But we ended up inspiring each other, and I felt that I knew her from way back. I remembered my blessing her at 6:30 this morning, what a small world.
Highly sensitive people are drawn to each other by mysterious ties.
Laurie
"This has been a difficult month for coalition forces," Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, told reporters Wednesday. "You know, our deepest condolences go out to those families, to their friends -- of those who have lost somebody very near and dear to them this month."
Yeah Yeah, he's so sorry, blah blah blah. Another one dies for oil. It goes on and on like rain from the sky.
Nobody will stop it. Nobody will pull out. Everybody is afraid of the U.S. Chimp Bush who's eating steak in the White House kissing the mirror.
I am Highly Sensitive To This.
"I think we need to get off this planet, because I'm afraid we're going to destroy it."
Highly sensitive people are drawn to each other by mysterious ties.
Laurie
Yes by mysterious ties we are all tied together in a dark world full of disturbing noises and shadows that move across the barren streets of ruin.
We breathe the cynical air which surrounds our cities and playgrounds for the wicked who climb corporate ladders of success knowing they have only a few years left on earth.
Should I echo those who already recognized themselves as HSP? Nah! You'll all believe me without long speeches, I'm sure. :-)
Perhaps sensitivity means, most of the time, that you haven't "learned" to sit on your feelings and emotions until they obliged and suffocated. I fear for people who "never cry". They must feel so cold inside.
High sensitivity has given Humankind its greatest treasures. Artists, thinkers, educators, philanthropists, have achieved incredible things. Mother Teresa was a HSP. So was Gandhi. Nelson Mandela. Pasteur. Beethoven. Indifference doesn't make you want to help others. If you're highly sensitive, maybe you're just highly human, and highly alive.
Terry, I have to back Lucid : you're frequently being too hard on yourself. We should always love our lifemates. And your first lifemate is yourself, see? So don't you make my friend's life miserable or you'll hear from me, mister, is that clear? Think positively, dude! Peace and love start at home, yo! You ARE a fine man, so start dealing with it, know what I'm sayin'?
Oh ya, sorry for standin' you up yestahday, there wuz no more juice in da hood. Total bummer, black-out at midnight, out like a light. These days, we don't get twelve daily hours of electricity, you dig? Dem asses high up don't know jack about managin' a country. Even California never had it this bad, word life!
But no biggie. The people are in the streets. We're gonna git dem suckas, just like we kicked Syria's. We shall prevail.
I have this vision about Lebanon. If this land of co-existence can be rebuilt, its spirit would be an inspiration to both the East and the West which it bridges. It could also help with the israelo-palestinian peace process. And have a domino effect in the region.
It's funny, how one small domino, tipping either ways, can affect the whole region. If only the puppeteers pulling the strings could find the wisdom within them... well, I guess it all comes down to how sensitive and sensible they are!!!
Rest your hearts, Former Marine, Apoloyon : this is not yet Mars, the panet of War. Hope only dies when we cease to believe in it.
So, it's a good thing I'm stubborn, eh? :-)
Just inserting here: what the book is talking about is sensory sensitivity, not emotional sensitivity.
Terry, I have to back Lucid : you're frequently being too hard on yourself. (Pascal said)
I'm sorry. I won't mention it again. Take care.
"I fear for people who "never cry". They must feel so cold inside."
Then do you fear for yourself?
I've been unable to cry from the age of 15 onward. My eyes still get watery from time to time, but the waterworks never flow. There is something in me that's holding back, I know this.
Perhaps the realization that the world is a hopeless tomb in which we are all walking dead men? Wars continue, poverty expands, still the sun rises and sets every evening and all that is remains stagnant.
My focus is on releasing the things still eating away at me and loving as fully as a human being can.
With such a release usually comes with tears for many. But for many it is a waste of emotion. What good does it do? Will it change the icy cold of hatred that is spun in vast cycles across the globe? Will it stop the innocent bloodshed? No, it will not sir.
To heal wounds one should not focus on them but rather the single cure that, when fully embraced, can erase all evidence that they were ever there. (I speak, of course, of love.)
If you do not focus on your wounds how can one cure the ail? That reasoning cannot amend any cures.
And if you find such a cure the memory will always be intact regardless but painless.
Love? You speak of love? Where does this so-called emotion dwell. I see it not in my world, only hungry materialists that eat the poor and spit them out like vomit.
In all that I survey cash, greed, and hatred exists. Those who say they "love" one another, why do they stab each other in the back when opportunity arrives?
The world has not changed for the better. It just grows darker.
We're gonna git dem suckas, just like we kicked Syria's. We shall prevail.
Vengence. You seek this? Yet you speak of hope and love? Two wrongs don't make a right, you know that don't you?
You obviously endorse violence? Or am I just assuming you are? You speak of brighter days ect, but yet you hunger for retaliation?
Is this correct? Doesn't this bring you down to your ememies level?
Be reminded that these are questions not accusations.
I made note of them and sent them a blessing, as they woke me up.
Now we have ordinary people who can "bless" other people? Can you also "part the red sea?"
The pardon of Richard Nixon by President Gerald Ford started this nation on the path that eventually gave us the Constitutional abuses of George W Bush. The current media frenzy supporting the pardon is both simplistic and illogical.
Ford pardoned Nixon before Nixon was brought to trial or convicted. The rule of law was ignored in favor of a double-standard where Presidents were not held accountable for law-breaking. The illegal activities of Nixon in the political sphere were an assault on American Democracy and should have been severely punished. Because of Ford's outrageous pardon, Right-wing Republicans never understood how un-American the tactics of Nixon were. The current national Republican leadership is still Nixonian to their core!
The current Bush Republicans attack the patriotism of their political opponents. Republicans are still inclined to criminalize dissent. Bush has let domestic political considerations and Republican partisan advantage influence decisions about war and peace. Bush Republicans still support wiretapping without court approval. Republican policies still include attempts to control or intimidate the media. Republican dirty campaign tricks are still much more widespread and of a more severe nature than Democratic ones. Republicans still want to politicize our court system. Republican leaders are still living in a culture of corruption. All of these negative attitudes evolved from the legacy of Richard Nixon.
Gerald Ford could have moved our nation toward a reform agenda. He could have publicized and moved to fundamentally correct the corrupt, abusive course of Nixonian Republicanism. He did not. Ford put Republican political advantage before cleansing American politics. The Nixon crimes went unpunished. The rule of law was undermined. Our nation was damaged and never fully recovered.
We should never forgive Gerald Ford for his betrayal of America. We still have before us the challenge of reforming our government, combating corruption and abuse of office by Republicans in power. These challenges should have been fully explored in the 1970's but Ford cost America a full generation. Ford was a very bad President. He was not quite as bad as Richard Nixon or George W Bush but should be held partially responsible for their abuses.
The American military, once a staunch supporter of Bush and the Iraq war, has grown increasingly pessimistic about chances for victory.
For the first time, more troops disapprove of the bush handling of the war than approve of it, according to the 2006 Military Times Poll.
When the military was feeling most optimistic about the war — in 2004 — 83% of poll respondents thought success in Iraq was likely. This year, that number has shrunk to 50%.
Only 35% of the military members polled this year said they approve of the way Bush is handling the war, and 42% said they disapprove. While approval of the bush war leadership has slumped, most agree it's time to cut our loses and accept defeat.
but Ford cost America a full generation. Ford was a very bad President. He was not quite as bad as Richard Nixon or George W Bush but should be held partially responsible for their abuses.
Yes he did. He's also the first non-elected President and silver-spoon Bush was the second Selected and never elected. You've done your homework.
Fortunately Ford only served less than two years and was easily beaten by James Earl Carter.
The Ford pardon COST him a victory. He swept it under the rug but the American people seen him do it. But back then the republicans didn't fix the elections they only committed B&E.
They are no so smart are they?
Well, I seem to fit the HSP to a T! Right on down to the problem childhood (sexual abuse). I would probably have the insomnia too if I wasn't taking Topomax and Amitryptalin for my Migraines everyday. They let me sleep soundly enough now that I don't hear the cat jump off the couch downstairs in the night or the house creak and groan or the dog moan in her sleep. I used to feel as though I had feelers out during my sleep and could sense any change in the house, during the whole night. Good for knowing if there were burglars breaking in, not good for getting good sleep. If anyone touches me to wake me, I startle and usually startle the person as well. I can't help it. Alarm clocks freak me out the first time they buzz. I jump sky high! I also can't stand a noisy workplace.
I can't focus on anything if people are talking all around me. I also remember in second and third grades, I was in a school that had "open classrooms". What that means is that there were no walls between the classrooms/grades. It was like one huge room with just cubicle type walls. The noise was unbearable to me. Those were my earliest migraines. I remember crying in pain so often from the migraines I got during those years.
I am also incredibly sensitive to peoples moods. Especially people close to me. My most recent Ex-husband (I've got two now, unfortunately), was a very cynical, unhappy, moody person. I was so sensitive to his moods and energies that he affected my dreams. I had terrible dreams of demons, and aliens and other bloody nightmares. The alien dreams were very common. I even thought I was awake and saw glowing balls of lights and stuff in the wee hours of the night while laying next to him. As soon as he left the house, I never had any of those dreams again, nor the strange hallucination type incidents. I didn't realize how stressful living with him was until I was over the heartbreak. I was so stressed by my sensitivity to his roiling emotions. He was so negative and it was hard on me. During our 4 year marriage, I had to have surgery on my cervix, more migraines than I can even count (close to one or two a week), and a bleeding ulcer as well as this past summer being diagnosed with asthma (he was a smoker), and adrenal fatigue. I had cortisol levels in the mornings that were lower than the average person's nighttime levels. I was falling apart and I thought I was still in love with this man. It took him leaving me and breaking my heart to realize that he was hurting me before he broke my heart! So, being sensitive to someone's emotions can be very hard to live with as I've discovered.
For the most part, I have to say, I had done a good job blocking things to survive. Not a good thing, since I had also become quite depressed. I began to work with a counselor and a physician and got my migraines mostly under control (one to three an month now), and have found someone new in my life that shares my passions. I have broken down a lot of my defenses and feel too much again, but I am learning to cope in different, healthier ways than my old childhood defense mechanisms. Spirituality is very important to me. I have slowed down and trimmed a lot of "things" from my life. I want a peaceful, reflective, simple, loving, life and that is how I shape my days.
Thanks for reading my ramblings when all I really meant to say in a nutshell was, "I'm one too!" I guess I just stayed up too late.
Good to hear from you, Epona.
For the emotions thing, try EFT. emofree.com
Nothing really changes,the militias run everything now, not Saddam. The execution worries me.
In my opinion, something big is going to happen,there will be a response. Probably not today because they know we are looking for one, but soon.
I had terrible dreams of demons, and aliens and other bloody nightmares. The alien dreams were very common. I even thought I was awake and saw glowing balls of lights and stuff in the wee hours of the night while laying next to him.
You probably did see those things. It's not right to blame your husband for things that happen to you. The world is full of demonic forces seeking out those they can torment.
apoloyon said...
I had terrible dreams of demons, and aliens and other bloody nightmares. The alien dreams were very common. I even thought I was awake and saw glowing balls of lights and stuff in the wee hours of the night while laying next to him.
You probably did see those things. It's not right to blame your husband for things that happen to you. The world is full of demonic forces seeking out those they can torment.
Well, they went away when he did. They never happened before him. Seems like a logical connection to me. Sorry if I upset you with my blaming him.
Sorry if I upset you with my blaming him.
There is no need for an apology. You just probably encountered demonic spirits. I believe what you wrote, these things happen. I'm glad to hear they stopped but more than likely they may return.
No matter how saintly we live there will always be a dark side and strange occurrences that transpire because currently Satan is the prince of the power of the air. It will change someday though.
Lucid : "Not necessarily. I've been unable to cry from the age of 15 onward."
I meant those who will remain "strong", no matter what. Rigid. And one day, they break. Completely. Too rigid equals brittle.
You're quite different, precisely because you are not dead inside, nor try to be. You do not force your nature silent when it needs to speak, it's your nature that chooses to remain quiet for now.
eolake said...
what the book is talking about is sensory sensitivity, not emotional sensitivity.
Grrr! Couldn't you have said it sooner?
(Okay. Calm now. Auuummm!...)
In any case, sensory sensitivity can also be amplified by the brain. Remember what I once said about blind people's incredible hearing and touch abilities. It's the brain that does it, essentially.
The brain could also be the most interesting direction in CALMING sensory hyper-sensitivity. Like in yoga, for example. Or EFT, I suppose.
"terry said...
I'm sorry. I won't mention it again."
Don't apologize, man! You're not boring or upsetting me, just making your own life gray. Just learn to love yourself, okay? YOU take care. :-)
Apoloyon said...
"I fear for people who never cry."
Then do you fear for yourself?
Nope. I haven't sat on my feelings to force them silent. I just know several people like that. And I can see they're even more unhappy when they dare not cry at times they'd need to. It's a safety valve, you see, letting off tears in place of steam. It musn't be welded shut, that's highly unsafe.
Being taken for someone who doesn't cry because I like to jest is a pleasant confirmation that my work on optimism is working. I haven't always been merry, you know.
"Perhaps the realization that the world is a hopeless tomb in which we are all walking dead men?"
Um... do I detect a hint of pessimism there? You certainly are right in being lucid toward everything that isn't right, Apoloyon. But, you would also be right in seeing the other side of the coin too. Having a crisis of Holiday blues, perhaps? I can relate right now, you know. I just refuse to give in and let it take over. Happiness is everybody's right, and that includes you.
"What good does it do? Will it change the icy cold of hatred that is spun in vast cycles across the globe?"
Actually, it will. The power to change things is in each of us. Think of Mother Teresa, instead of weeping she chose to act. That frail woman had great strength to deploy. There is still much misery in India, but thanks to her, there is notably less than before. We cannot turn the whole world around, we are just drops of water in the ocean. And yet the whole ocean is drops, so you're not helpless. Just do your best and keep the hope, you're not alone.
You're NEVER alone, in fact. Even when you're all by yourself somewhere, ther may be somebody secretly thinking of you at that very moment.
"The world has not changed for the better. It just grows darker."
The world is dynamic. It is in constant motion, and therefore change. You are part of the world. Dot the math : you CAN contribute to setting the course straight.
What, do you thing Good should triumph over Evil overnight? It is an eternal struggle, my friend, and probably one that will end only with Mankind itself. Please, don't give up. The first victim of your disheartening is yourself, when you give up all hope. Hope never fully vanishes. "He who can still think of trying has not yet lost."
Beloved Hochman said...
Vengence. You seek this?
Oh no, I don't. Not vengeance. All I seek is overthrowing a corrupt political regime to restore freedom and democracy to my country. I just expressed it in a motivational tone. (I like to use ebonics sometimes, yo! Street talk, 'cause "the people are in the streets" today, you dig?)
I am Lebanese. We didn't actually kick Syria's. In reality, we sent them home, out of our land. And with no violence (if you've followed the news), which is no small feat! THEY did all the violence for three decades. Some corpses have never been found...
Vengeance? My dear Beloved, I've long ago lost all faith in vengeance. Not only is it "bad karma", it's also highly unrealistic.
One example : the Rwanda genocide. Forget vengeance, let's just think court justice for a moment. Half of the country went killing at the other half (or vice versa). Can you hope to execute, or simply judge and emprison, all the guilty ones? Even if we had the will and power, it wouldn't be serious to consider! Today, the world is trying to judge those who played key roles. Fine. And yet, I believe justice or vengeance are utopic to achieve in Rwanda, even with these limitations.
Are we okay on this? You said "Be reminded that these are questions not accusations." Well, to anyone like you who asks and discusses with a civil attitude, I answer similarly. Don't let the occasional half-joke mislead you, "or else"... (Joking again.)
Hey, at this precise moment, the power went out AGAIN. Good thing I have batteries, or my serenity would be battered. Almost two years that the syrian vampirism is off our backs, and the corrupt management in this country is worse than ever. Half the international aids received after last summer's israeli offensive OFFICIALLY vanished at government level. 50% of what it takes to rebuild a small country!!! These gonifs must be replaced, pronto. Or else, I'll be the one leaving, like hundreds of thousands of other young men have over the years. Either this country becomes a country, or I'm seeking another one. (Now, THAT's what I call sweet revenge. Being happy in spite of those who seek to deny it to me!)
P.S.: The current opposition movement in Lebanon has already seen at least three deaths in its ranks. "Executions" would be more fitting sometimes, like that sniper's victim. And yet, non-violent stand is the world. I didn't know "we shall prevail" sounded vengeful or violent?...
No, don't worry, the only living creatures I even slap are mosquitoes that enter my house. No hate intended, they just won't leave me in peace otherwise. :-)
Now we have ordinary people who can "bless" other people? Can you also "part the red sea?"
Anonymous, as far as I know, anybody can bless anybody, according religious law. A father will bless his children. A beggar will bless your generous hand. It is a loving attitude, essentially, and I don't understand the reason for your irony. (Although I admit, it WAS witty.)
Injustice Collector,
You make several good points. But don't you feel maybe we're straying a bit off-topic here?
Just an impression, no offense. After all, some strayings have led to quite interesting exchanges of view around here. :-)
And if talking about this can inspire American voters to exercise their citizen and voting rights intelligently, the whole world will thank you one day... I feel the decisive shift coming already.
"Ford was a very bad President. He was not quite as bad as Richard Nixon or George W Bush"...
So, the Iraqi fiasco is not simply "another Vietnam"? I'd be very happy if I could contradict you on this, but alas you're right.
:-(
retired army brat said...
The Ford pardon COST him a victory.
Yep. This IS becoming a promising discussion.
I find it quite interesting that so far not a single Bush supporter has come forward on this blog. Do they prefer other sites, or do they simply not exist?...
Many religious Americans have expressed themselves, so clearly the two positions aren't joined at the hip. (I've learned something there.)
Just out of curiosity, I'd love to see somebody bring a convincing argument in favor of GWB. :-P
"If I had a head cold, [...] Complaining would only make it worse because it would drag me down."
I always feel down when I have a cold. Like right now, for instance.
It's normal, really. First, your body is exercising an intense metabolic effort with its immune system, so it won't show from the outside but you have genuine reasons for being physically tired. And second, the interferon produced by the body to fight viruses is known, in its medical uses (such as cancer treatment), for being the cause of depressive mood. Perhaps it's a deliberate mechanism, so that we'll be less active and save our energy in a time of need.
"I can find some cold medicine and watch a comedy to lift my spirits."
It is always a good idea to keep your spirits high when you're sick. I don't mean start dancing the jig, but maintain your moral energy level. This is the doctor speaking : it is very important, body and mind are a whole. Direct links between the immune and nervous system have been found years ago, so it's no mere theory.
"And so what if the memory remains?"
Many years ago, an accident caused me a benign but impressive-looking wound. It gave me something close to a phobia toward blades after that. Today, that reflex memory has receded, I have fully controlled it... I just made something positive of it, by becoming more careful. Bad memories can be positive if you know how to use them. They're a part of us, after all.
Epona said...
Right on down to the problem childhood (sexual abuse).
I've always known there were worse fates than "simply" growing up in Lebanon. My childhood was only spoiled, not destroyed like yours. Damn, these horrible things seem so frighteningly frequent!
You have my sympathies, Epona. Hang in there, girl.
"Good for knowing if there were burglars breaking in"
Some consolation, hunh? :-\
Well, you can always try to startle them by waking up!
P.S.: You don't sound the least bit like a boring nut-shell to me. ;-)
Apoloyon said...
"You probably did see those things. [...] The world is full of demonic forces seeking out those they can torment."
Well, not all demons are real, some are only creations of our mind. (Most of them, I hope! By definition, illusions are easier to defeat.)
In either case, a strong spirit always helps, be it against real demons or endogenic torments. And I hear that not believing in them always weakens them, regardless. They only have on you the power that you allow them.
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