Today on my way to work, as I sped down the highway, I noticed the strong smell of McDonald’s.
Sure enough, I was passing an exit that has a McDonald’s just off the highway. It occurred to me that I could probably smell the food because I am a Highly Sensitive Person.
I also noted that I was wearing sunglasses and it was cloudy outside. I almost ALWAYS wear sunglasses when I’m driving or just generally when I am outside during the day, again, because I am a HSP.
Bah! What does that even mean, that I am a HSP, Highly Sensitive Person?! I admit, that even a short time ago, not more than a year or so, I would have scoffed myself at the label, HSP. But it turns out that being HSP is now considered a real condition that, for a lack of a better word, people can actually be diagnosed as having. There are even books written about living in the world as this kind of person.
So what, does it mean I cry easily?
Well, yes, of course it means that. But it also affects my life in many other ways being this type of person. Being highly sensitive affects my life in all areas, physically, mentally, and spiritually too.
Being highly sensitive can be a great strength and a great weakness at times as well.
For one, I am physically very sensitive. My skin breaks out in rashes very easily, I’m allergic to many things, and my sense of smell is extreme. I can barely tolerate strong-smelling perfumes, cleaners, or air fresheners. Any strong smell, like gasoline for example, gives me an immediate headache. I feel that I can smell almost every minute smell in a room, that is when my nose isn’t stuffy because I’m allergic to something in the room.
My eyes are very sensitive to light. I feel ridiculous sometimes when I’m wearing my sunglasses in public because I know people must find it strange, like I’m trying to be a movie star or something, when I wear sunglasses on a very overcast day or forget to take them off in a grocery store. Light of almost any sort makes me squint. I detest florescent lights. I’d much prefer spending leisure time in a dimly lit room, warmly filled with ambient light, not just for aesthetic reasons, though that is part of it, but mostly because I cannot tolerate any bright light.
Physically, I have to watch what’s in my environment, wear gloves, and be mindful of what I encounter or allow into my purview of experience.
Mentally, I tend to overreact to the moods of others or the “vibe” that they put off. I explained to my husband to think of me as being a huge antennae. I pick up on things even without them being said or expressed. So if he’s putting off a vibe, I’m feeling it, perhaps even more than he is sometimes.
I have to also be mindful of who I surround myself with, how I respond to them, and avoid trying to assume too much what others are thinking and feeling unless they directly tell me their feelings and thoughts. Although I am very perceptive of others, I’m no mind reader, and thinking that I am has landed me in trouble sometimes.
Spiritually, I have to stay focused on the good and not let myself drown too much in the negative forces of the world.
For example, I’m bitterly grieved that my lovely original post that explained all of this in greater detail disappeared from the earth when I hit “publish,” and so an hour of writing just vanished into the ether. I feel almost physically sick over it, but perhaps the Universe was just saying, “That’s enough. No need to explain so much.”
Basically learning how to deal with myself as a HSP, and teaching my husband how to deal with me as an HSP, has dramatically changed my life for the better.
It’s tough being this way sometimes, but I’ve learned to see the good in seeing the world in such a bright and vivid way.
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