The Gift Of Compassion From Sensitive People

I’ll be the first to admit I don’t always handle doctor’s office visits well especially with procedures involving unexpected pain. All too often, there is a sudden cold sweat followed by nausea and lightheadedness signaling I’m getting ready to faint. For the Highly Sensitive, fainting can be our ingrained response to the invasiveness of  modern medicine followed by the emotional recognition of…

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5 Ways To Boost Your Self Esteem

Self esteem is not a hot and sexy topic. Not even close. I know people don’t love to talk about their self esteem in front of others. But I’m passionate about it. Self esteem is defined as confidence in one’s own worth or abilities. Have you ever noticed how prevalent low self esteem is among…

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A Reexamination Of Comfort Zones And Creativity

comfort zones

Being in one’s comfort zone or not has become an easy marker or diagnosis of what we are doing wrong. It can be useful unless we turn it into a form of black and white thinking as a way of beating ourselves up. Our inner critics love ideas like this. I consider myself a creative…

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The Dark Side Of Self Sacrifice: How It Affects Your Health

Sacrifice took root in human society centuries ago in our earliest days. Self sacrifice did as well. Our early ancestors used sacrifice to make offerings to the gods as a form of protection against forces that were unpredictable, that they did not understand and that they could not control. Consider it an early form of…

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Why Highly Sensitive People Are Practical!

Highly sensitive people are often treated poorly. HSPs are empathetic and creative and as a result do not easily fit into the Western cultural model. To many people, apparently our being different causes them to judge the highly sensitive person as a flake. Not so fast! Differences Between Highly Sensitive People And The Non-HSP Highly sensitive people…

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Why Responsibility Is Not Enough

Have you ever noticed how the word responsibility gets thrown around a lot? Does it seem strange that in spite of that we have so many pressing problems in our world? I think it is worth asking why that is. Responsibility Is Not Stewardship When we talk about responsibility we are usually referring to tasks: you…

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Inner Peace Improves Creativity

Inner peace improves creativity. Based on my experience as a creative person, inner peace takes us to a different place that improves our ability to come up with fresh ideas. Brainstorming Is Not Creativity I have nothing against brainstorming – either by yourself or with others. But here’s the thing: brainstorming is often about what…

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Why Is Generosity So Difficult?

Generosity is something we all want and often struggle with. Why is that? Ambivalence About Generosity We tend to respond to generosity with warmth, happiness and joy. We also naturally respond to stinginess with repulsion, hurt and fear. Of course negative experiences can cause us to have more complicated feelings. Generosity is loaded with ideas…

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Breaking The Failure Taboo

Failure is something that many of us if not all of us have been taught to be afraid of. Unfortunately, failure is a big subject and perceptions about failure are not necessarily innocent. Fear of failure causes so many people to hide and makes them afraid to be themselves. What a loss! Why Failure Is…

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Sensitive People’s Inverted Hierarchy Of Needs

A few months back, I attended a talk by Dave Markowitz, the author of Self-Care For The Self-Aware, in the events room of a metaphysical bookstore filled with highly sensitive people and empaths looking for insights and help. The energy in the room was electric. As it often happens when I attend a group event…

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