7 Things to Love About Being a Highly Sensitive Person
One thing to love about being a highly sensitive person is how your intuition can help you find solutions to things.
As a highly sensitive person (HSP), there are things I find myself naturally attracted to — and if you’re an HSP, you probably do, too. After all, we think deeply, are very in tune with our environment, and pick up on subtleties others may miss.
Some of the things I love and appreciate may not make sense to less-sensitive people, but that’s okay. Below is a list of things I love — they nurture my sensitive mind and soul — and fellow HSPs may be able to relate.
7 Things to Love About Being a Highly Sensitive Person
1. The way music helps comfort the sensitive soul
As a sensitive person, music plays an important role in protecting my mental health. This world is full of noise. A lot goes on in the air — everything produces sound, from cars to insects to road construction, and many other noises. For a highly sensitive person, these sounds can make us feel overstimulated.
That’s where music comes in. I plug in my headphones and turn the volume up. Then, the only thing my mind focuses on is the music. All the other noises are blocked out. Music acts as a barrier to my mind and shuts all the other sounds out. Music keeps me calm, and in this way, I’m taking care of my mental health and listening to my HSP needs.
2. How dimly-lit places help HSPs decompress from all the stimuli of bright lights
Sensitive people can be overstimulated by environmental factors such as bright colors and lights. Automatically, we may gravitate toward neutral or dimly-lit places. Even at night, I like to keep my lights off and prefer being in a darkened room.
A lot of HSPs experience light sensitivity, so a sensitive mind feels calm in a dim place — it is a place of rest and peace. When I’m in a place full of light, I can feel the overwhelm settling in. But once I’m in my dark fortress of solitude, I feel alive again.
3. The way you observe others — it’s easier than struggling to socialize with them
People talk too much. Most people are always going from one place to the next and are full of energy. Sometimes, they’re not good for my sensitive mind. I get overwhelmed being among them and feel I can’t keep up with their lifestyle.
Recently I’ve found a new hobby: people-watching. Instead of being among these highly energetic souls struggling to socialize, I enjoy watching them from afar. For a while, before work, I’d go to the city and sit in a high place so I could enjoy looking down at the action happening below. This soothed my sensitive soul and my mind would be at peace.
4. How you sense things — your HSP intuition can help you sense things others may not
Similarly, my sensitivity has improved my intuition. As a highly sensitive person, I am aware of stimuli more than others, from the texture of the shirt I’m wearing to the volume of the music in the grocery store to sensing things others may not.
When I meet with a friend, for instance, I can often tell what’s on their mind before they even say a word. Or I’ll have a “bad” feeling about something and it’ll turn out I was correct. In these situations — and many others — my intuition has proven to be a big asset of being an HSP.
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5. Your knack for working on creative projects — which can be the result of all the stimuli HSPs experience
Because sensitivity allows you to process information deeply, you may find yourself being more creative. I love anything that has to do with creativity: I love design. I love architecture. I love creating things. My mind is always thinking about some idea or another.
For example, on my computer, I have a house design software and love creating houses with it. Similarly, if I am going to rearrange the furniture in my house, I will first envision it several different ways in my mind. (My head has basically become an architectural studio!) I then try each idea to see how they will turn out. The same with cooking. I grew up cooking. If you give me the chance to cook, I will first think about a non-conventional way of making something, like boiling chicken in grape juice instead of water. That’s me. I like mixing different kinds of food to see what the outcome will be.
6. How you appreciate scent-free places — sensitive people are sensitive to smells, which can be highly distracting
I like places where there are no smells or strong smells. I don’t use cologne and don’t like the smell of perfume. I like it when I’m around people who are not wearing any either. (Often, I start to get dizzy when I come across someone wearing perfume.)
After all, many HSPs experience chemical sensitivity due to our sensitive natures and how we pick up subtleties around us, like the faintest smell of a flower or garbage truck. Plus, strong smells are not good for a sensitive mind.
7. The way you relish time in nature — the more peace and quiet, the better
Highly sensitive people have a deep appreciation for nature. I like everything about it, from breathing the fresh air to listening to the birds. Oh, and the silence. When I’m out in nature, I can get a break from all the overstimulation I had back in the city, at work, or even in the mall. Overall, I find being in nature to be therapeutic — it’s a great time to do some deep thinking — and I’m sure other sensitive people would agree.
HSPs, What Do You Like?
Maybe you like some of the same things I like. Whatever the case may be, take note of the things you gravitate toward and develop a healthy relationship with them. Be careful of some others, because they may drain your energy vs. help you replenish it. As HSPs, we have many secret powers that others don’t even realize — and the key is using them to our advantage. I love being a highly sensitive person and hope you do, too.
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