Sense and Sensitivity 1 of 2 , July 5 2011

They tear up at phone commercials. They brood for days over a gentle ribbing. They know what you're feeling before you do. Their nerve cells are actually hyperreactive. Say hello to the Highly Sensitive Person—you've probably already made him/her cry. .... "Today, science is validating a group of people whose sensitivity surfaces in many domains of life. Attuned to subtleties of all kinds, they have a complex inner life and need time to process the constant flow of sensory data that is their inheritance. Some may be particularly prone to the handful of hard-to-pin-down disorders like chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. Technology is now providing an especially revealing window into that which likely defines them all—a nervous system set to register stimuli at very low frequency and amplify them internally."

By Andrea Bartz

Life is difficult enough most say.  The economy, family commitments, work, school, paying the bills, keeping up with housework, finding time to just be . . . Throw in the fact that one is an HSP, or an empath, an intuitive, and one's life becomes not so much one's own anymore.  Walking into a shopping centre or mass grocery store brings on sensory overload quickly and most times harshly. The resulting fugue is dismal.  I have been asked many times why I choose to live in a secluded area.  Truthfully, there have been many reasons over the years.  What they are hardly seems relevant now, as they were once.  One truth however, continues to rear upwards, head and shoulders above the others.  It is quiet, serene, peaceful here.  It is just me and my girls.  The "noise" of the world - voices, hate, anger, fear, love, happiness, exultation, anguish, thoughts, desire - it is all left behind. I Rush Home to hear barking and mewling from the girls; the birds, deer, squirrels, wind, rain, trees.  These are natural, elemental, soothing.  They do not invade my sensitivities, but rather abide with me.  My sanity is preserved.