Living Life Poetically (aka being highly sensitive)

Everyone has an incredible spacesuit.

We may have gotten in the habit of judging it, altering it, abusing it, or even neglecting it... but our spacesuit- or our body- is what keeps us together on this planet and the more we love it and take care of it, the better experience of life we typically have.

My body is admirable and yet does come with quite a few quirks and kinks. You could say that I am a highly-sensitive person or HSP. (Please look up Dr. Elaine Aron, Alanis Morrisette, Anita Moorjani, and many others who have researched/discussed this trait) That means my spacesuit tends to be quite sensitive to the environment around me (my nervous system sensitivity is tuned way up). Supposedly 20% of the world population also has such a system so it is more normal than most of us talk about!

What does this mean for my experience? It means I can really have a tremendous time in nature for hours- from watching the clouds to the trees to the tiniest bugs. Nature, beautiful music, deep conversation with a few friends, animals, deep research in topics I love, fantasy/spiritual books help charge my battery. It all feeds my soul too.

Human society, on the other hand, is more draining. Noisy lawnmowers, trucks, traffic, people with tension or aggression or sadness, the stress of fitting in or adapting to the environment, keeping up with people in high-energy or hyper-energy spacesuits, drama, violence, small-talk, fakeness- all the complications of humanity- drain my battery to the point sometimes I must crawl home and be in the dark for a while. I have learned that my body is great at building connections and picking up on things others may be missing. It is not made to just go out spontaneously or to noisy, crowded, or stressful places for very long.

Before knowing this about myself I tried forcing myself into places along all the other unique kinds of people. I would get sick or burnt out, but kept at it thinking I was just weird. Finally I heard about the term HSP and ran through the questionnaire. It definitely fit! It took years of understanding how to work with it instead of against it, especially in the societies within the USA. I found that working with an online HSP coach who could validate my feelings and experiences really helped me gain the confidence in building good boundaries and learning to appreciate the experience of such a highly tuned nervous system. The most important lessons I have learned are to say "no" more often- especially to going out to places that do not serve me or help me in any manner, such as noisy bars and nightclubs, to say "yes" to botanical gardens every once in a while or quiet, cozy dinners. Maybe a trip to the zoo on a cool weekday. Mostly I do what I need to do outside and come home to my sanctuary- a home full of soft colors, lovely decorations, plants, tea mugs, good food, bathtub, books, and quiet. I love my noise-cancelling headphones and sometimes wear them with nothing playing just for less noise. I love soaking in an Epsom bath after being out around a lot of different kinds of energy. I love getting lost in my astrology books or coloring. I love non-violent or happy/romantic/inspiring movies. I love my family time, but I still crave solitude to be my best self.

What kind of suit do you have? What do you do to optimize the experience it provides? I'll love to hear about how different/same we are!