I love a list, Helen, although of course I had set such a ridiculous number of questions that I had to bring up the post on another tab in order to cross-reference. Thank you for playing!
I always thought I probably fell into the HSP category, but after reading the information in the link you shared, I’m certain. Terrific, thought-provoking piece as always, Ros.
Yep, HSP here. I read something recently about a man who (like me) is often awake at 4.00 a.m. He is Jewish, and says that those of his relatives that were awake at that time were ready to flee when they got the knock on the door. Also, I am a good girl who is not allowed to do 'bad things', so I relate.
That level of sensitivity is definitely life-saving. Of course, it is awfully nice to get a good night's sleep too, so helps if we only wake up when our invisible protectors know it is necessary. Anxiety is a natural consequence of being an HSP, especially when you don't realise what is making you different, and it requires management in order that it doesn't knock us out of our sensitive alignment.
8. Yes, and I keep thinking that there’s some magic answer just around the corner…in a book, or at the end of a tough therapy session, or that maybe I just need to sit down and work through my bullshit. None of this seems to fix things, though.
There are definite things that can be done to reduce the sense of overload. Gently working through the bullshit (small bites at a time if it's overwhelming) can help a great deal. Plus a media diet. Plus walking in nature and that kind of thing, so long as one can get out of one's head enough to appreciate it. The only thing that ever fixed anything for me really was EFT, which is why I'm a bit of an evangelist, but I know it doesn't suit everyone. For my husband, the most effective fix has been hypnotherapy.
EFT is your best bet. It brings up emotion but so long as you keep going just a few minutes more, you get out the other side. Near-instant relief. As a highly sensitive person I find it invaluable and use it every day. I journal to get clarity on what’s troubling me (an emotional reaction to a sentence will tell me it’s a good tapping statement) and I clear whatever arises, every day. I think of it like cleaning the teeth; eliminate the mind bacteria before they cause bigger trouble!
EFT you can do yourself, EMDR you can’t - plus I know two people who had PTSD worsened by badly delivered EMDR. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s an earlier, cruder method.
Good to know- I know it’s theoretically a treatment option but I’ve heard it makes people feel worse short term, which would be a disaster right now! I just need to find some way of managing brain chaos and stopping the nightmares
Dearest Ros, so yes I had very much wondered why you hadn’t posted and almost wrote an email to ask if you were all right so yes we do notice and value your weekly (mostly) posts. Really interesting on many levels. Your description of the gentle gut-feel voice is just exactly the one I have been nurturing for years. It’s not insistent, it’s not loud it’s a gentle tug and slight raising of the eyebrow a nod a hardly discernible movement but oh so clever and always right. I almost never write an email or text or have an interaction with another human without leaning into that lovely little whisper. And when I don’t it almost always is with regret. Yep a lifelong learning but thanks for articulating better than me.
Yep I have the skin of a naked rat. Always have. I dislike confrontation on any level and try my best to hide from it but actually am getting better at it as I listen to my gut and make sure that what I say is what I genuinely feel and is me and therefore I don’t have to defend myself or feel guilty or being defensive. Like you say it’s a lifelong process this growing thing.
I always HAVE to answer all your questions. It’s just fun:
1. I didn’t but maybe I am and maybe I should be proud of the fact rather than wishing I had the skin of a rhino
2. Soz over my head this one! 😃
3. OTT although we could be close to a third World War I doubt it and if it happens hey it will be what it is
4. Nope. Not that I’m aware of! 😂
5. What’s the otter thing about?
6. Yep. And yes possibly let’s talk and btw I’d like a 1to1 EFT session. Please reach out when you’re free. Yep I have done eft but I feel an hour with you would be time well spent
7. Nope. Never have.
8. Nope but I do worry about the world and then think there’s nothing I can do about all that but I can work on me and maybe if I get it right every now and then they runs off on others and another butterfly had flapped its wings
"I almost never write an email or text or have an interaction with another human without leaning into that lovely little whisper. " This is beautifully put, Steve.
1. Yes indeed
2. Just a joke
3. Nicely stoical
4. It's an unusual one.
5. My Otterly New Approach post in December. Still looking to make Otter merch. T-shirts were requested.
6. Interesting, I will email you. Though when people say "when you're free" I often struggle to define when that might be, as fill every corner of my life that I can with writing! But yes, I should be persuing this "tapping in the workplace" thing before my debt gets unmanageable!
7. Not for everyone.
8. Definitely nothing one can do about the world, only about one's response to it.
I love the Red Hand Files. And I love what you’re doing and saying. I need to pull some rusty pins. Once I’ve found them! I think I am an HSP. I struggled a lot with schools and jobs, too loud people, and often felt overwhelmed by everything. I’ve been expecting the apocalypse for ages. Wrote a whole novel about what comes after!
Oh good, another RHF lover. I look forward to it landing in my inbox. He has a big heart, ever since it got broken and reformed several sizes larger. Yes, finding those rusty pins is the thing... I can't believe I hid that one from myself for so long. I must look up your novel.
My clownish brother used to say, in a very calm voice, "Whatever you do..." and then he'd scream: "Don't panic!"
I removed a block to my writing this week in discovering that voice dictation to computer actually works. No microphone required. Now I can do the 5 minute free exercise and others. Duh! I am a poor typist.
In response to some of your questions:
1. Yes, I'm a Highly Sensitive Person. I've known it since I was 4.
2. I do not count myself a Halal Snack Pack. I've never actually seen one, but I'm pretty sure, like maybe 67%. I am however, a CIACM. A canary in a coal mine.
4. I've been lucky enough to have avoided all unconscious conduits, to the point where I think it might even be horse shit, which here in Texas for some reason is worse than bs.
5. I still want an otter tshirt. Men's xl
7. I love sushi, sashimi even more.
8. Yes. Right now it's all too much. I guess having grown up in Canada I still say, I am pissed off!
Stay away from that sweet stuff, btw, and stick to beer or dry red wine 🍷 cheers 🍻 👏 ✌️ 👍 😀
That is so great, Carl, re the dictation! I have started dictating my responses to Notes comments to my phone more and more so I can keep up with communications here (though not these ones on posts, which I vastly prefer to see on the computer screen and type). I love your answer to 2. 4? Well seeing is believing. Some things you have to experience first hand, and it's probably rarer than seeing the aurora borealis in Texas. 5. Still looking. 7. Mmmmm sashimi! 8. Yes, Canadians are part-British, this checks out.
Ah but I love the sweet stuff. I've never liked beer, and I've become allergic to red wine and indeed white, unless it has bubbles. My true drink is cider, but only the kind that Americans call "hard" and only if it's cloudy and smells a bit like horseshit.
1. No
2. Possibly, if it’s gluten-free as well as halal.
3. Not keen!
4. Not as far as I know unless children’s temper tantrums count.
5. I’m an otter fan, though I’m neither an otter nor an artist.
6. No- I’m in the aging crone stage of life.
7. Yes (however see answer 2).
8. Not yet but it may be soon.
I love a list, Helen, although of course I had set such a ridiculous number of questions that I had to bring up the post on another tab in order to cross-reference. Thank you for playing!
I always thought I probably fell into the HSP category, but after reading the information in the link you shared, I’m certain. Terrific, thought-provoking piece as always, Ros.
Thanks, Chris. From reading some of the pieces you've written, I'm pretty certain too!
Yep, HSP here. I read something recently about a man who (like me) is often awake at 4.00 a.m. He is Jewish, and says that those of his relatives that were awake at that time were ready to flee when they got the knock on the door. Also, I am a good girl who is not allowed to do 'bad things', so I relate.
That level of sensitivity is definitely life-saving. Of course, it is awfully nice to get a good night's sleep too, so helps if we only wake up when our invisible protectors know it is necessary. Anxiety is a natural consequence of being an HSP, especially when you don't realise what is making you different, and it requires management in order that it doesn't knock us out of our sensitive alignment.
Love this one Ros, I’m delighted things are shifting for you. Xoxo
Thanks, Gillian. As you can imagine, I am even more delighted than you are!
8. Yes, and I keep thinking that there’s some magic answer just around the corner…in a book, or at the end of a tough therapy session, or that maybe I just need to sit down and work through my bullshit. None of this seems to fix things, though.
There are definite things that can be done to reduce the sense of overload. Gently working through the bullshit (small bites at a time if it's overwhelming) can help a great deal. Plus a media diet. Plus walking in nature and that kind of thing, so long as one can get out of one's head enough to appreciate it. The only thing that ever fixed anything for me really was EFT, which is why I'm a bit of an evangelist, but I know it doesn't suit everyone. For my husband, the most effective fix has been hypnotherapy.
This was good to read, thank you! I’ve heard a lot about EFT (and EMDR)….will keep looking into it. Walking is definitely one of the best things!!
EFT is your best bet. It brings up emotion but so long as you keep going just a few minutes more, you get out the other side. Near-instant relief. As a highly sensitive person I find it invaluable and use it every day. I journal to get clarity on what’s troubling me (an emotional reaction to a sentence will tell me it’s a good tapping statement) and I clear whatever arises, every day. I think of it like cleaning the teeth; eliminate the mind bacteria before they cause bigger trouble!
Thank you!!
EFT you can do yourself, EMDR you can’t - plus I know two people who had PTSD worsened by badly delivered EMDR. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s an earlier, cruder method.
Good to know- I know it’s theoretically a treatment option but I’ve heard it makes people feel worse short term, which would be a disaster right now! I just need to find some way of managing brain chaos and stopping the nightmares
Absolutely beautiful post, Ros. Thanks so much for writing and sharing it with us. 🙏🥹🌟🌻💛
Thank you, Joy x
Dearest Ros, so yes I had very much wondered why you hadn’t posted and almost wrote an email to ask if you were all right so yes we do notice and value your weekly (mostly) posts. Really interesting on many levels. Your description of the gentle gut-feel voice is just exactly the one I have been nurturing for years. It’s not insistent, it’s not loud it’s a gentle tug and slight raising of the eyebrow a nod a hardly discernible movement but oh so clever and always right. I almost never write an email or text or have an interaction with another human without leaning into that lovely little whisper. And when I don’t it almost always is with regret. Yep a lifelong learning but thanks for articulating better than me.
Yep I have the skin of a naked rat. Always have. I dislike confrontation on any level and try my best to hide from it but actually am getting better at it as I listen to my gut and make sure that what I say is what I genuinely feel and is me and therefore I don’t have to defend myself or feel guilty or being defensive. Like you say it’s a lifelong process this growing thing.
I always HAVE to answer all your questions. It’s just fun:
1. I didn’t but maybe I am and maybe I should be proud of the fact rather than wishing I had the skin of a rhino
2. Soz over my head this one! 😃
3. OTT although we could be close to a third World War I doubt it and if it happens hey it will be what it is
4. Nope. Not that I’m aware of! 😂
5. What’s the otter thing about?
6. Yep. And yes possibly let’s talk and btw I’d like a 1to1 EFT session. Please reach out when you’re free. Yep I have done eft but I feel an hour with you would be time well spent
7. Nope. Never have.
8. Nope but I do worry about the world and then think there’s nothing I can do about all that but I can work on me and maybe if I get it right every now and then they runs off on others and another butterfly had flapped its wings
Thanks as ever. Sx
"I almost never write an email or text or have an interaction with another human without leaning into that lovely little whisper. " This is beautifully put, Steve.
1. Yes indeed
2. Just a joke
3. Nicely stoical
4. It's an unusual one.
5. My Otterly New Approach post in December. Still looking to make Otter merch. T-shirts were requested.
6. Interesting, I will email you. Though when people say "when you're free" I often struggle to define when that might be, as fill every corner of my life that I can with writing! But yes, I should be persuing this "tapping in the workplace" thing before my debt gets unmanageable!
7. Not for everyone.
8. Definitely nothing one can do about the world, only about one's response to it.
xx
I love the Red Hand Files. And I love what you’re doing and saying. I need to pull some rusty pins. Once I’ve found them! I think I am an HSP. I struggled a lot with schools and jobs, too loud people, and often felt overwhelmed by everything. I’ve been expecting the apocalypse for ages. Wrote a whole novel about what comes after!
Oh good, another RHF lover. I look forward to it landing in my inbox. He has a big heart, ever since it got broken and reformed several sizes larger. Yes, finding those rusty pins is the thing... I can't believe I hid that one from myself for so long. I must look up your novel.
Yes, I missed you.
And I am grateful you “were delayed” in completing what has been a wonderfully heartening, hope-filled, read. Hugs to you.
Ah, thank you Odet, that's so lovely. You are very much appreciated.
My clownish brother used to say, in a very calm voice, "Whatever you do..." and then he'd scream: "Don't panic!"
I removed a block to my writing this week in discovering that voice dictation to computer actually works. No microphone required. Now I can do the 5 minute free exercise and others. Duh! I am a poor typist.
In response to some of your questions:
1. Yes, I'm a Highly Sensitive Person. I've known it since I was 4.
2. I do not count myself a Halal Snack Pack. I've never actually seen one, but I'm pretty sure, like maybe 67%. I am however, a CIACM. A canary in a coal mine.
4. I've been lucky enough to have avoided all unconscious conduits, to the point where I think it might even be horse shit, which here in Texas for some reason is worse than bs.
5. I still want an otter tshirt. Men's xl
7. I love sushi, sashimi even more.
8. Yes. Right now it's all too much. I guess having grown up in Canada I still say, I am pissed off!
Stay away from that sweet stuff, btw, and stick to beer or dry red wine 🍷 cheers 🍻 👏 ✌️ 👍 😀
That is so great, Carl, re the dictation! I have started dictating my responses to Notes comments to my phone more and more so I can keep up with communications here (though not these ones on posts, which I vastly prefer to see on the computer screen and type). I love your answer to 2. 4? Well seeing is believing. Some things you have to experience first hand, and it's probably rarer than seeing the aurora borealis in Texas. 5. Still looking. 7. Mmmmm sashimi! 8. Yes, Canadians are part-British, this checks out.
Ah but I love the sweet stuff. I've never liked beer, and I've become allergic to red wine and indeed white, unless it has bubbles. My true drink is cider, but only the kind that Americans call "hard" and only if it's cloudy and smells a bit like horseshit.
Forgive my drinking advice. Everyone is different. I might have been drinking red wine that day. Just too much going on here 🤯