When You Are Highly Sensitive, the World Can Be too Much
How HSPs can thrive in a world of over-stimulation
I have a confession: Every time I unexpectedly bump into someone I know at the grocery store, the gas station, or the park, I feel a flash of awkward anxiety.
The weird thing is, even when I see a friend or an acquaintance I like, I genuinely feel off balance from the unanticipated encounter.
No, I’m not overly shy, hostile, or unfriendly. What I am is a highly sensitive person, HSP for short.
As an HSP, my MO before they see me is to turn my face away in a split second and quickly walk in the opposite direction.
Of course, I am often too slow to respond and the person sees me before I can vanish like a puff of smoke. When this happens, I swallow my unease like a dry horse pill and quickly shift gears. I put on a false smile and pretend everything is fine. Completely normal. No big deal.
“What a pleasant surprise it is to run into you unexpectedly,” I say without a hint of sarcasm.
All the while I am chastising myself on the inside and calling myself a weird, anti-social misanthrope. But, on the outside no one can see the internal drama I struggle with. I can fake niceness and play the social convention game with…
