i went to a meet-up of similar types

[Zoe Girl]

the type is Highly Sensitive People (HSP) for those of us with oversensitive nervous systems. the organizer joked that she was surprised people like us came to a meet-up, which of course includes being around new people. it was really nice, i have known about the HSP set of traits for a long time, out of the 10 questions i scored 11 (yes that is a joke).

we talked about how to take care of ourselves and just got to know each other. it may be an ongoing group but this was one class on self care. i felt pretty good that i have developed some skills around that, i really wanted to connect to other people who are similar and not have to explain everything. i usually just expect my circuits to get a little blown in social situations and then i have an extended recovery in introvert mode. one of the most refreshing things was to have a conversation about how to handle when you are affected by other people's emotions deeply, more than the simple 'get a thicker skin' advice that isn't effective for me. Not so much that i got a perfect answer, but that i had the chance to participate in the conversation. okay the organizers are not perfect, totally into angels and new agey but with such good intentions.


i know there are plenty of people here who are HSP types and i thought i would share.

[kib]

Someone sent me this the other day.

[JaneV2.0]

I love it!

They say Hyper-reactive people (I refuse to use the HSP label, as it conjures up a shriveling ninny for me) served their tribes well back in the day by being constantly on the alert for danger. They used to be called "high strung."

[Zoe Girl]

ha, my daughter just posted that t-shirt on Facebook!

jane, i understand. i always want to explain HSP because it sounds like we are sensitive and others are clods, not true, we just react to a lot that others would never notice. Also the shriveling ninny! i am a fierce and strong and boundary-comfortable HSP. Sometimes the boundaries are a bit strong but i have learned more and more to express myself more clearly around that and minimize the negative impact.

i have had very few positives that were expressed to me for this set of traits, however people seem to respond and i KNOW it serves an important function. in a more negative sense i was an emotional sponge in my family. i absorbed and worked out the sh** that others could not. no surprise i was the punk kid, smoking, cutting, etc. then i left for college and it seemed the family went through managing how to function without someone to suck up and transmute to the best of my ability. i learned some techniques early on for survival but what joy it would have been to have names and value to this!!

i think my mom gets it more and more, she offers financial support and i have decided to accept it gracefully in the spirit of how we used to support the people doing the spiritual study and personal work to improve everything.

[JaneV2.0]

I have that emotional sponginess too. I limit my time around depressives, malcontents, whiners, s**t-stirrers, and haters for that reason. I'm glad I didn't take that social work job in Coos Bay...