Hello Everyone!

It looks like I've come very late to this HSP party. Not a lot of recent activity on this board. Is there anyone else here???

I've only just read Elaine Aron's book and discovered the trait of being highly sensitive. It's explained nearly everything about my personality that I've been unable to understand before. Now that I know what it is that makes me so different from everyone around me, I feel the urgent need to connect with others of my own "species" so I don't feel like so much of an enormous freak of nature out in the world.

(edited because I just realized that this is not a private forum).

I would like to get to know all of you and have somewhere nice and cozy where I can just be myself and chat with other sensitives.

If you're out there, please don't be shy. We are all part of the same tribe.

-Rainsmith

Welcome to the Tribe forum, Rainsmith.

This forum has been going through a quieter period, but at its heyday it was quite lively and we hope it will be again. There are over 400 registered members so the potential is certainly there if we use it. Actually it is not that unusual for online forums to go through ups and downs over time, depending on whether enough members choose to take more of a leadership role by participating. The original two leaders are away dealing with personal issues, and it was their hope that the forum would continue and take on a life of its own. That's up to us.

There is a rich archive of discussions to explore here. I hope you will be inspired to add to it.

Welcome again!

Welcome Rainsmith! Grasshopper is right....it's been quiet here. I haven't been around much either but I'd like to be in touch here again, at least part of the time. I think if we are patient enough, others might join in.....

Wasn't it an awesome experience to find out about the HS Trait? It was for me at 52. I'm 59 now....the things I've learned and how I've grown! I'm glad you found Tribe and I hope you can find some HSP connection here. At the very least maybe you can read through older posts and gleen something for yourself from them. You will definitely find your own 'species' here....lol. I know there are a few people still popping in.

I live in Missouri....can't find many HSPs here, they're all hidden well. I've worked as an RN in hospitals for 28 yrs....difficult job for HSPs. Been on Tribe since 2009 but not much for last 18 months or so.

Poppy

Welcome Rainsmith,

I was 51 when I discovered I was a HSP...an acquaintance who is also HSP approached me with some HSP literature and it was like a lifeline thrown to me! Suddenly I realised I wasn't flawed, I wasn't a nut case, and I had a right to feel the way I do, sense the way I do, and most importantly, to start to protect and nurture myself at all times. It has helped me enormously to get a good understanding of myself and to mull out some worrying issues.
This site has been quiet for a while..sometimes people just don't feel like responding to posts and that's okay; I live in Australia and belong to a local HSP forum which is very active at the moment. I pop back here from time to time to "dip my toe in" and see what's being discussed. You will find that there are a heap of supportive people here who are a delight to exchange views with.
Welcome again

Thank you for your warm welcome! I'm so glad that you're all here and that I now have this forum as an information resource. I plan to do a lot of reading on here as I get acclimated.

When I first found out about being highly sensitive, it was a big shock. I could compare it to someone finding out that they were adopted. Suddenly nothing is what you thought it was and your whole life is under review.

I spent some time re-examining my childhood as a way to understand why my family was not understanding or supportive and why I got messages growing up that told me I was different in a negative way: not normal, weird, a crybaby, weak, over-reactive, etc. Knowing now that I was born with a physiological difference that couldn't be diagnosed and is beyond my control, I've been able to put my childhood and the people who hurt me in the right perspective.
 
Moving on from looking at the past, I'm reclaiming my life NOW. It's so liberating that I can't even describe it. It explains everything I've ever not understood about myself. Now I can learn how to take care of myself in a loving way instead of always comparing myself to other people and criticizing myself all the time. I get to enjoy the special things about me now. I get to feel good about the way I am. It's honestly the most exciting thing to happen to me in my whole life!

The only problem I have with it is the word "sensitive." It makes it sound like I sit around and cry all day or I'm allergic to everything or like a strong wind would just blow me away. It makes it sound like something I have to overcome, like I need to fix it by toughening up. All wrong. I wish there was a better word for it, one that means "being born with a nervous system more finely-tuned than the norm." That's really all it is.

It's interesting to see that many of you discovered this in at mid-life. I've wished that I could have learned about this sooner, but maybe we're able to appreciate our uniqueness more as mature adults? I know that it feels like a second chance for the kind of self-acceptance I've never had before. Now I can live the rest of my life more fully without that horrible underlying feeling of being inferior to everyone else coloring everything I do.

I hope to get to know you all better and to contribute something useful to the forum. Thank you again for welcoming me to the tribe.

........exactly, exactly,exactly
........me too, me too, me too!!!!!!!

rubyred,

Thank you for making me feel like I'm in the right place.

(I love your little dragon guy, by the way.)

@ Rainsmith

Your post is wonderful, summing what so many of us here are saying about ourselves. You have learned a lot about yourself so quickly.

Elaine Aron, in her writings, has recognized that there are problems with the label 'highly sensitive' as having negative connotations for many people, and that 'sensory perception sensitivity' might be a better one.

Unfortunately 'highly sensitive' often means 'overly sensitive' (as in troublesome) in the common understanding.

We don't need to 'toughen up' but instead to appreciate our sensitivity and learn how to live in balance with it and not let it get us into trouble. For me, it has been a continuing journey and not always easy.

Best wishes to you for your continuing journey!

Thank you, Grasshopper, and best wishes to you, too.