The Other Half

My preschool induction into non-introverted chattiness has had its costs. For instance, I’m in my 50s and still figuring out who I am (see Once upon a time, I thought I knew who I was).

But I’ve mostly been spared the experiences that make so many other introverts seriously pissed off at extroverts. One thing introverts say over and over in blogs and videos is that you simply can’t make extroverts understand introversion. I haven’t yet had to try, so I can’t speak to that. But I had an experience recently that made me wonder whether that doesn’t cut both ways. Continue reading

HSP Without a Face

Line drawing of a woman's face with a question mark instead of featuresIt’s been a few months since I was introduced to the concept of high sensory processing sensitivity. I recognized the amplified physical senses in myself immediately. Issues with noise and other environmental stressors come up constantly. I was already well aware that I experienced these things more intensely than other people (or as I thought of it, that other people were, somehow, unfathomably oblivious to them).

However, it seems like my understanding of the broader implications of being an HSP is not developing much. In fact, it feels quite stagnant. I think this is because I haven’t met any self-identified HSPs, so I don’t know what that looks like. All I have to go on is my internal experience, and you can’t really compare your inside to someone else’s outside. I don’t even know what I look like from the outside! My internal Pattern Maker is frustrated with so little to go on. Continue reading

Alone at Christmas, Thank God

This post is for the casual acquaintance who asks about my Christmas plans. You know the one I mean. The one who looks sympathetic when I say I’ll be spending Christmas alone, and disbelieving when I say I like it that way.

Here’s what Christmas looks like to me. Continue reading