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My Year with the HSP Companion

After nearly 54 years in this body, I have recently embarked on a quest to learn how to live with it in peace.

Hope that this is possible began to stir in me two and a half years ago when I read, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain. Since reading Quiet, I've had innumerable conversations, hours of pondering, and read additional articles, blogs, and books on the subject. These have led me to an entirely new term, "highly sensitive person (HSP)." I'm not exactly a fan of that particular term because it connotes weakness, but since no one asked for my opinion, I guess I'll learn to live with it. 

In contradiction to how I first perceived the term, it actually refers to someone who is hyper-sensitive to light, sound, touch, taste, and/or smell (NOT someone who is an emotional weakling). HSPs (also known as sensory-defensives), like introverts, are easily over-stimulated because of their heightened sensitivity to external stimuli (I'm tempted to believe that "sensory defensive," "highly-sensitive person (HSP)," and "introvert" are three terms for the same thing, but I haven't read enough yet to draw that conclusion absolutely).

I readily admit that I'm an introvert, an HSP, and while I cannot change the over-stimulating world in which I live, nor can I change the fact that it overstimulates me, I now have hope that these two utterly incongruent things - the world and this trait of mine - can, in fact, peacefully co-exist...with a little tweaking on my part.

So....

Over the next year, I plan to read The Highly Sensitive Person's Companion by Ted Zeff.
This little book is divided into fifty-two chapters. Each chapter outlines an exercise for the coming week to help the HSP make adjustments that will enable him/her not only to cope but to thrive.

I invite you to follow me this next year. If you're a gregarious extrovert who is fairly oblivious to external stimuli, it may help you better understand your spouse/significant other or your child, your parents, siblings, in-law(s), friend, or co-worker. If you're an introvert/highly-sensitive person, buy a copy of the book and read the chapters week by week or simply follow my blog. And whether you're an introvert or an extrovert, I'd love to hear your comments!

Hopefully, as we go through this together we'll grow in our understanding of the people around us, and if you happen to be an introvert/sensory-defensive/HSP (whichever term you prefer), I hope you'll gain much more than understanding. I hope it changes your life. I hope it changes mine.

Stay tuned for week one!

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