2011

Cheer for You

December 31, 2011

Sometimes, struggling with sensitivity is one of those areas. It’s important to believe in ourselves, knowing we’ll get there, as long as we keep cheering for ourselves.   Cheer for you, the way you would cheer for a toddler   Stumbling, faltering, making a mess.   Cheer for you, knowing that,   When you keep cheering, one […]

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Creating Space for Change (2): Winterwalk

December 29, 2011

It all starts with space. And awareness allows us to take steps to change anything that isn’t working for us. Wherever we go, we take our (busy) mind with us. So, unless we are already pretty relaxed, doing nothing or doing something very mellow can actually feel more ‘busy’ and stressful than not taking a […]

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Creating Space for Change (1)

December 27, 2011

Change starts with space. And awareness allows us to start changing anything that isn’t working for us. (It’s not the end-all be-all though!)   Here is the basic formula: Space => awareness of your own problems => new insights => potential for change Right off the bat you’ll also notice that creating space first leads […]

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Rethinking Regrets (Using Bus Stops)

December 22, 2011

I sometimes catch myself thinking: “in retrospect, such and such that I did then wasn’t so useful. A waste of time and money” And once I start down that track, I can usually think of many many ways in which these activities were a waste of time and money. How silly. Really. Silly because, would […]

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Essential Boundaries for HSPs and Empaths: Keeping Track of Your Own Well-Being

December 13, 2011

  For both Highly Sensitive People and Empaths, one of the most difficult things to do is to say NO to people who need help or plain want our attention. And so, for a while, we don’t say no. That is, until we start to notice how negatively that is affecting us.     By […]

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The Beauty of Asking for Help

December 9, 2011

Yesterday, an old lady came out of her house calling “sister, sister”. She was addressing me. Yet, I do NOT live in the Bronx or anywhere else where such a form of address could be normal. Here it only refers to nuns. I was standing on the pavement, looking at this old lady as she […]

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10 Smart Ways to Make Organic Food Affordable

November 29, 2011

I eat mostly organic food. As a sensitive person, I notice the difference. I feel better when I eat food that has been given time to grow and NOT been sprayed with crap. It also makes a lot more sense, intellectually, sustainably, how-things-workably. I’ve often been asked: “Isn’t that (VERY) expensive???”. It depends. Basically, my […]

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The Highly Sensitive Professor: Academic Guidelines for Overwhelm-Free Living

November 13, 2011

Do you also feel we are expected to have an opinion on EVERYTHING? No matter how little we know about something, we are still expected to have a point of view. What’s more, we are bombarded by other people’s points of view. Talk about information overload! Information overload is the last thing we sensitives need. […]

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The Happy Sensitive Painter: Therapy Art versus Inspirational Art

November 6, 2011

There are many reasons why I dropped out of art school. One of them was that more and more, it felt like group therapy with unwilling and unqualified therapists. Don’t get me wrong. Yet, once that “flow” is activated, it will also take you to places you don’t necessarily know how to handle. Years ago […]

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Squash the Silver Healing Bullet

October 24, 2011

Getting through to our inner despair often requires a silver bullet. A message so extremely smooth, shiny and convincing that it penetrates the walls of doubt, fear and self-sabotage. Of course, after the initial exciting pang, nothing much happens, and we’re back to square one. The Healing “Market” has discovered the use of exaggerated advertising. […]

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Anger (Abstinence?), Boundary Setting and the Spiritual Dilemma of the Good Person

October 11, 2011

I’ve had a real struggle with anger. For the longest time, I couldn’t really be angry. I didn’t know what it felt like to be truly angry. Some people told me this was because I was a vegetarian (at the time). That “eating meat makes you angry”…or something like that. Some people said it was […]

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Worth the Wait: The Happy Sensitive Painter, Braveheart & da Lil’ Voice in Action

September 24, 2011

Sometimes…a work is ALMOST there. And I’m tempted to share it as-is. But this little voice is saying, almost, almost! And the question is, can I sit down and listen? Can I wait for that little-step-that-still-needs-taking to reveal itself? With these two canvases, they were both almost finished. But really, almost! So, in the past […]

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Introducing The Happy Sensitive Painter

September 17, 2011

My last two years have pretty much been a creative dryspell. For a while I wondered, will I ever paint again? And then, one marvellous day, I looked at my paints, picked up my brush, and the old familiar rush was back! Some things have changed though. I’ve learned to no longer take that process […]

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Activate your HSP Leadership Skills: 5 Practical Angles on Leading Group Meetings the Sensitive Way

September 7, 2011

Elaine Aron has identified Sensitives as being the “royal advisors”, the “visionaries” of society. Many Highly Sensitive People identify with the role of the researcher, consultant, and gentle therapist, BUT is there an important sensitive capacity that we are overlooking? Reading Justin Menkes’ “Heightened Sensitivity: Why It’s Such a Critical Leadership Component” I decided it […]

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What’s the Problem? From Global Politics to Local Self-Care

August 28, 2011

It is very easy to get caught up in things that seem to be the source of our problems but aren’t really. You know how, when we feel upset, we suddenly notice all kinds of things around us that “suit” that upset perfectly? That is, we’ll suddenly see how much there is to get worked […]

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Destruction in the name of Love: dreams and the beauty of things falling apart

August 20, 2011

A lot of spiritual teachings focus on increasing our ability to love. Love is the stabilizing, nurturing and creative force, we all want more of that! We want more love, more more and more of more and more. In short, we want more. As sensitives, we should know better though. More of more leads to […]

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When Listening becomes Listless: Troubleshooting The Empathic Ear

August 8, 2011

Do you get exhausted sometimes, listening to other people? As sensitives, we tend to be good listeners. We find it easy to tune in to others, notice subtle cues and give our undivided attention to what someone is saying. Thich Nath Hanh once said that if only more people would truly listen to others, there […]

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How to Work With Your Fears in a Friendly Way

August 3, 2011

Being HSP comes with an instruction manual of sorts (or rather, if only!). Since we have super sensitive nervous systems we are perfectly equipped to spot trends and developments early and interprete subtle cues. However, it is precisely this strength that makes us prone to all kinds of anxieties and fears. Noticing differences in our […]

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Staying in the I of the Storm

August 2, 2011

When things get frantic, we often respond with more activity. Instead, try to stay in the eye of the storm. In the middle of any chaotic energy there is a place of stillness and peace. That place should be you. When we can tap into our ability to stay in the ‘I of the storm’ […]

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The Mediator, The Scapegoat, the Blamer and the Lost.

August 2, 2011

As sensitives, other people love having us as mediators. We tend to easily see the many sides of an issue, we sympathize with people taking different positions, and we end up being stuck in the middle. At best, we’re merely pressured to choose a side, at worst we can end up the scapegoat. I’ve come […]

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