It’s important what we name things, how we label them. Whenever we use a prefix such as “over,” for example, it’s to imply that something is too much. Relative to so-called “high sensitivity,” we’re saying simply that we are too much of whatever it is. In this case, emotion, sensitivity, intensity, fear, anxiety, depression . . . basically, too much of everything.

SPS Sensory Processing Sensitivity (What makes an HSP an HSP?)

​Although Sensory Processing Sensitivity, or SPS, as coined in the mid-1990s by psychologists Elaine Aron and her husband Arthur Aron, who developed the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS) questionnaire by which SPS is measured, does not in and of itself imply that if you meet certain standards you’re “too much,” it does directly speak to the idea of sensory overload. The idea that because high-sensitives habitually live in a state of overwhelm, we are equally “too much” and “less than” in comparison with others. Sadly, HSPs like myself have spent a lifetime trying to believe that we’re not too much and refuting that we are too much when really all we want to be is appreciated for who we are and what we bring to the table. By others, but more importantly, by our own definition and standards.

Labeling us doesn’t help…or does it?

Now that the label of HSP is fairly au courante, the conversation has been expanded. Which is awesome, don’t get me wrong. But once again, though I myself readily admit to using the term as an identifier, most people who hear it are afraid of using it. The word sensitivity alone is enough to make them run in the other direction. As if sensitivity is something you could catch, something to be ashamed of, something unlikeable, unmanageable, and above all, undesirable. Admitting to high sensitivity is like wearing a sign around your neck that says, “Hello. My name is Heidi and I cannot cope with much of anything in the world. Please like me anyway. (But, if you don’t like me, maybe you could put up with me?)”

Switching the paradigm of how we talk about and perceive “sensitivity”

Once again, it’s time to flip it. Flip the language, the paradigm, the perspective. How about instead of “over” everything, we’re “under” all of it. We underscore the necessity of community; we understand—and want to understand—other people’s lens for experiencing life. Essentially, we are under it all in the most literal sense of the word. We are humanity’s foundation. We are the limbs people cling to in times of dire need. We are the baseline for love on a grand scale. We are holding up the world, and have done so for such a long time and to such a degree, that we are often, and our efforts are often, invisible and, without which, there would be no humanity. We support compassionate yet strong and direct leadership. We promote self-confidence and self-esteem because we have been through the wringer ourselves.

HSPs are humanity’s foundation

Recognizing that we are the foundation as opposed to the fault line, the brilliant as opposed to the bewildered, means that we have become aware that it is now the time to leave “too much” behind and step forward into “too amazing to believe.”

HSPs are the saviors of humanity—past, present, and future

It’s time to stop apologizing for who we are when who we are: uniquely adept, dexterous, thoughtful, insightful, and yes, sensitive, individuals that bring balance to the world. As we talked about in yesterday’s posting, we, HSPs, sensitives, peacemakers, caregivers, artists, we are not the bane of society, but the saviors of humankind.

As long as we are clear that this is true, we will never feel that we are too much to handle ever again.
 

You have manifested in physical form for a reason.
It’s my hope that these posts encourage you to step into who you really are — a Vacationing Angel. Spirit that has made the choice to manifest in physical form to have the human experience. How? By establishing your Unique Energetic Signature (UES), opening your heart, reeling in your psychic octopuses, and establishing a relationship with your inner guidance. Why? Because the great choices we made in Spirit form don’t always seem to translate into our experience as humans. We need connection, love, support — we need help sometimes to understand what we’re capable of as spirit in human form, to appreciate who we really are, to take advantage of life in human form with all its complexities and possibilities and opportunities.
As Gregg Braden says,
“If the particles that we’re made of can be in instantaneous communication with one another be in two places at once,
and even change the past through choices made in the present, then we can as well.”

The Law of Cause & Effect, karma, and cocreation.One of the earliest teachings of the Buddha (2600 years ago) is known as the Law of Karma, or the Law of Cause & Effect. This universal law has existed for tens of thousands of years in the most ancient African societies, Native American & First Nation cultures, and on the Indian subcontinent. This divine principle teaches us that we are co-creators of every moment, working hand-in-hand with the Divine. Which means we are never alone, never really on our own, never succeeding in isolation, and never separate. Every moment, we are partnering with the universe to get something done, to evolve.

The “reality” of Covid.In a recent post we talked about living life with an open heart, and what difference that makes to how we perceive “reality” and how we manifest our experiences in human form. We’ve explored how it doesn’t have to be a risk to open our hearts because what it does it create a sense of ultimate freedom and engagement with self, others, and spirit. Today we’re focusing on the real meaning of CO-VID. What’s really fascinating is that I can pretty much guarantee that the person or people who came up with that name for this virus were only thinking of its so-called scientific application, when you break it down something incredible happens. We see it for what it is.

Here’s how it works: The Sanskrit word for knowledge is vidya. The English word wisdom comes from its root — vid. The prefix “co,” from the Latin, means “together, mutually, in common.” In this case it’s easy to see how, if every moment is a co-creation, Covid is nothing more — and nothing less — than a shared wisdom, a shared knowing . . .
A Shared Awakening!

Add to this the fact that the number 19–1 for beginning and 9 for endings — well, it seems the message is that this is a critical time in all our lives and it’s up to us what we do with it.

“We are pushed by pain until we are pulled by a vision.” Michael Beckwith

When the scary world of Covid turns into “a shared awakening,” nothing looks or feels the same.
​
The questions Highly Sensitive People need to ask ourselves right now:What are we learning about ourselves to promote self-awareness and self-acceptance?
How are we growing — and in which direction?
Are we taking the time to reflect upon our next step along the path to our greatness?
Are we being kind in the process?

Are we practicing in whatever ways that feel comfortable to share a greater awakening with the world at large?
Learning how to survive and thrive in a times of stress is even more important for high sensitives! To take our “anxiety” and transmute it into incredible. Transmute our “depression” into deepened awareness. And our “ailments” into ease. It’s up to us, all the HSPs of the world, to lead the way with the gifts — the heightened sensitivities — with which we have been blessed.

***Listen to my recording of “Healing from the Symptoms of Covid” music on youtube!***

For many years I've thought about the way we all talk about "work." What kind of work do you do? Today I'm working on.... Do you enjoy your work? I have to work today. I wish I didn't have to work. Work sucks. Even in positive terms, like I got a lot of work done today and I like my work.  It's always bothered me--well, ever since I started to really groove on the work I was doing. That's when it all started to feel awkward. How could I call the work I was doing "work" when work had so many, and mostly, negative connotations? 

Last month, as I was being interviewed by Jill Lebeau and Amit West on their amazing Spiritual Sandbox podcast, we were discussing the "problem," the inherent limitations, with such a word.  It simply did not describe in any way, shape, or form what we were doing and how we were living what we were doing. In the old vernacular, "what we were working on." Because the reality is that we all love our work and do not consider it work at all. 

You'll probably agree when I say there's no really awesome way to combine the words "work" and "play." But let's put that aside to look at the bigger picture. 

Frankly, the world needs a new word. The world needs to recognize that enjoying your "work" does not equate to living a miserable life of poverty, that to love your "work" does not mean you're doing something unacceptable or less than. When the world can agree that imbuing what you do with love energy only manifests positivity, freedom, prosperity, and ease, the world will be able to naturally release into that timeless truth.

I can almost hear the arguments now! "What do you mean, that cleaning bathrooms is plork?" Okay, maybe not. And yet, just as the Eskimos have many words for "snow," we also need a word that more accurately describes, underlines, underscores, and represents how we feel about what we do.

So...are you ready to PLORK?

All it takes is a little practice. What kind of plork do you do? Today I plorked hard! Today I plorked so easily that things got done in record time! Today is a plork day. Are you plorking today? When you plork with me, I have so much fun and we achieve so much, Let's plork together. I really put my head down and plorked today. 

Let's face it. When you first hear words like woot or swole or chill or ghosting or phishing, or hangry or salty​, did you immediately think, "Wow, that'll be a hit!" Maybe, maybe not. What I'm suggesting is that we put plorking on our playlist. Add it to the dictionary. Make it a THING. A REAL THING. Because creating a word that describes what we do and how we do it inevitably takes it into a whole new realm of energetic frequency. Says to the universe, "What I do, in whatever form it takes, is sent out with the energy of love and play and work and all the other things that I choose for my life and want to offer to everyone I come in contact with."

Share it. Use it. Speak it. Offer it. Love it. Roll it around in your mouth until it spills out easily. 
In other words, plork with it.