HSP
I remember when I first heard about HSP’s. It was a “light bulb!” moment.
An HSP is a Highly Sensitive Person and through reading about them I realize that I have always been an HSP. I react very strongly to energy and I absorb other people’s emotions. And I have a very strong connection to the earth. Keeping time by the moon and feeling despair about what the animal kingdom is facing. When I was young everyone always told me in a very non-understanding type of way to stop being so sensitive. I tried, but it’s pretty impossible to just stop being who you are. And I really wish that this aspect of me could have been embraced instead. I would certainly have been much farther along on my spiritual path by now had I embraced all of this years ago. And now, I hear that this is really a gift and should be grasped. Ha, ha, ha is how I responded and could not accept or understand that advice one bit.
Being an HSP has always had its downsides. I can’t watch violence, am sensitive to both pain and caffeine, am very observant and easily startled, I don’t like chaos and need time to be alone, plus, I am super empathic. But given all of this, I now believe that being an HSP is probably my greatest asset.
Last night, when sitting in my meditation, I felt just that. EXACTLY THAT. It was an epiphany and almost an existential experience. Sixty years and I just now can say, “YES, I accept it”! I accept being a “super-feeler”.
Talk about upping my game with this newfound knowledge. I am so excited that I had this revelation. I was preparing to do my evening meditation and followed the steps of ritual that I go through every night when I go to sleep. And it was in that mindless activity that I realized the gifts of being an HSP. Through the adjusting of my body to be comfortable and the flattening of wrinkles in my sheets and fluffing of my pillows, and on and on, and on and on, I realized that with these gifts of sensitivity, I also get the gifts of intuition and spirituality, of knowing deeply about life and the world, of being naturally artistic, and of being able to share my life and my thoughts with the world. I experience vivid dreams and visions, and I have a deep appreciation for nature and the arts.
I was bemoaning this whole ritual when I realized that this is the thing about being an HSP. And the reason why it’s so important to acknowledge is because it is one way that I can give myself self-care. And self-care is truly important for all of us, not just HSP’s.
Though my sensitivity is increasing, I believe my spirituality is increasing as well, and both balance each other and so I’m feeling comfortable and staying pretty level. I think it’s important in this ever changing world to notice this and be conscious of it. And I move forward, accepting and embracing my sensitivity.
To my HSP friends I say “embrace your sensitivity!”