Vibrant Days…
Flourishing with Sensory Processing Sensitivity
December 2022
Greetings sensitive ones,
I’m wavering between processing holiday moments and wanting to start anew. Can you relate?
As I mentioned in last month’s newsletter I’ve been attempting to view my trait as an asset so I’m noticing the value it offers. Here are a few of those riches:
-Noticing subtleties: kindness on faces, simple gestures, milder temps, the tones in voices, new birds at the feeder, fresh smell of garland, deep orange in the sunrise, blends of taste in the tea, when my dog leans against my leg. As odd as it sounds on a recent flight I could hear the sound of a cat meowing (those beside me could not) and that sound offered me great joy.
-Depth of processing: making connections inside my brain like attending Sound of Music production and cherishing Maria’s faith journey that exceeded remaining at the abbey and watching her faith deliver transformative love to the children, Captain and ultimately, her country. Enjoying a fiction book and applying the main character’s resilience to my own life.
-VantageSensitivity:(https://
-Emotional reactivity (stronger emotional responses): the beautiful sensations that can accompany watching a movie (recently saw The Fabelmans and Whitney Houston’s new one), blasting the CSO on large screen playing Beethoven’s 9th, attending a graduation and melting at hearing Pomp and Circumstance envisioning all the beginnings inside myself and every person attending.
And you can bet I savor the trait expressed through others: the music I get sent, pictures of beauty, elaborate details from their internal processing (a week ago a nephew stood in our kitchen describing a struggle in his life and I felt awe at the accuracy and profundity of the descriptions. His ability to share allowed me to not only feel closer to him but feel expanded myself. Is this not a gift?) Have you not appreciated meeting another’s intolerance for the superficial? The immense richness this trait brings to those who catch it.
In case you were wondering about the challenges this trait brings I will be addressing “being sensitive about my sensitivity” next month.
Until then, noticing the gold with you.
~ Candy
A helpful explanation of a distressing tendency.
Time to unpack why “trust is critical for well being.”
https://psyche.co/guides/how-to-trust-your-body-to-boost-mental-and-emotional-health
What a year it has been.
Pondering:
“Imagine if we measured success by the amount of safety that people felt in our presence…”
(anonymous)