The Upsides of Being HSP
- Caprice
- Sep 7, 2016
- 2 min read
I chose an image of herbs and spices very deliberately to go with this post as I think my enjoyment of flavors, both subtle and bold, is my favorite thing about being HSP. I think losing that would be like turning the world black and white and gray to a visual artist. I love trying new foods and tasting a "bright" flavor and then with other foods noticing something gentle and nuanced. My favorites are Ethiopian and Indian because of the blends of spices that are so different from western food. Sometimes food can be too much but that's rare for me. I guess if I never had this level of sensitivity to different flavors I wouldn't know the difference, but I can tell you I'd really have to grieve hard if I lost this one.
Music is right up there with food, a close second. I like almost all music, with only a few exceptions. I love how it makes me feel. I truly feel like it can transport me to a whole different dimension. According to this WIRED magazine article, dopamine is released in the brain when listening to music. As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, dopamine is different in the brains of HSP's. So it makes sense that music would have a larger impact on HSP's. When my son and I are in the car and there has been some difficulty or perhaps tension, I can always count on music to shift things for both of us. Fortunately our tastes overlap so we can find common ground. He is becoming quite the musician himself and sings all the time. I think it is how he balances his emotions (as I type I can hear him singing downstairs).
As an HSP, I'm told my emotional life is richer. I've always thought so as I've had the sense from a young age that my feelings were too intense for others and so I've learned over the years to be a bit guarded about it. While this can be a double edged sword, I wouldn't trade it for one single second. Probably the best thing is falling in love - for the first time in college, then with my husband, and most recently with my newborn baby son when they put his soft little cheek against mine for the first time just moments after the c-section. I go back to each of these moments and my breath is taken away and my eyes fill with tears of joy.
I'm curious about others - what do you love about being HSP?
Blessings!
Caprice
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