Heed the warnings of the HSPs

[Introverts] are living evidence that this rich and varied world with its overflowing and intoxicating life is not purely external, but also exists within... Their life teaches more than their words.... Their lives teach the other possibility, the interior life which is so painfully wanting in our civilization.  --Jung, quoted by Elaine Aron


E.A. discusses introversion a lot and how it can be confused with what she termed the "Highly Sensitive Person" or "Sensory-Processing Sensitivity" trait.  In many Western cultures, introversion and sensitivity are often equated with weak characteristics needing to be overcome.  Ambition, aggression, and people with power (whether by fame or money) are idolized.

Introverts, shy-identified, and highly sensitive people must learn to disabuse themselves of these negative connotations of these traits.  As I see it, these characteristics allow people to be aware of the internal experiences in their myriad subtleties.  The inner is then reflected to the outer.  Everyone is compelled to act by deep feelings.  By being oblivious to those feelings, we do not have the ability to understand life in its complexity.  For example, most people have been told about the need to differentiate frustrating feelings experienced at work from the feelings experienced at home.  Typically told, the man goes to work and has a terrible day.  He comes home to his family with boiling emotions and the smallest upset at home causes him to lash out at his family, blaming them for the emotional turmoil.  To be aware of those feelings, recognizing their source and their complexity, allows for a more intelligent response.  This process requires a sensitivity to and awareness of one's own emotions.  It's not about repression, it's about understanding.

Introverts and highly sensitive people need to be understood as having valuable insight into this inner world.  To use those insights can lead to greater harmony and awareness in the "external world."

To make the distinction a little more gross, it's helpful to compare those with pain receptors and those without.  Of course, the occurrence of the latter is extremely rare in the population, and there's good reason for that.  People who do not have the capacity to feel pain do tremendous damage to their bodies.  This inability makes them more susceptible to injury and death.  In the same way, devaluing introverts and HSPs, leads to greater suffering and possibly to a society's death.  We would be smart to recognize this sooner rather than later.

The dual fangs of thought and opinion

If we don't dissociate the word, which is memory and all its reactions, from the feeling, then that word destroys the feeling...You have so entangled yourselves in a net of words, of speculations, that the feeling itself, which is the only thing that has deep and vital significance, is lost.

"I am beginning to see what you mean," said the first one slowly. "We are not simple; we don't discover anything for ourselves, but just repeat what we have been told. Even when we revolt, we form new conclusions, which again have to be broken down. We really don't know what love is, but merely have opinions about it.--JK

The mind is relentless; it is cunning and often moves us away from being simple, and most certainly, from being simply aware.  In the Adam and Eve parable, it was the snake that offered knowledge to humans and therefore, led to their corruption.  It seems that the snake is really the process of the mind's thinking offering a continuous stream of knowledge/information to keep their minds occupied.  Meanwhile, innocence and simplicity are being lost.  As we age, it becomes so difficult to dissociate the fact from the opinion. We have a library of opinions and they are cataloged right there with the real information, so the process of recalling a fact also drags along the opinion and the sentiment associated with that information.  This is why we become so intractable in discussion.  We are armed to the teeth with facts and opinions and they seem one and the same. We argue and hate, ourselves and others.  So, we go on vacation and disengage in all that thinking and feel refreshed by the force and uncomplicated experiencing of traveling.  The novelty gives us pause from our usual mental commutes.  We ascribe the "refreshing" experience to the place or the people, but there is a power within us to refresh ourselves.  We just have to take that vacation from our thinking, and that requires--not thought--but a calm awareness.  There must be an openness to life, in all of its ugliness and beauty.  We generally call that innocence.

People around the world instinctively feel we should protect the innocence of children, but why not protect the innocence within all people, including ourselves?  To do so, we need to be alert to the snake within our own minds, offering us the penetrating fangs of opinions and thoughts.  As the poison of judgement courses through our veins, we lose the ability to stay centered and compassionate.  We fall ill and become embittered.

Earlier today I was bit by the snake.  I got frustrated and angry that the disparity in wealth is rising exponentially.  The easy answer?  Remove their power, or more brutally, remove those people!  Of course, those people are trapped in the same socio-economic structure as the poor, they just have everything at their disposal.  Worldwide poverty is definitely a problem, but running to solve the problem with a fist....full of opinions and anger will create more problems.  The solution lies not in more laws, punishments, or money, but in understanding.  Real understanding of how the problems came to exist and the consequences of those problems.  When approached this way, the feeling of anger extinguishes, and there is a calmness that pervades the inquiry into the problem.  The meaningful goals of health and well-being for everyone naturally becomes the compelling force, not avarice and exploitation.

In our current society, it seems absurd to expect children to pay up if they want a bite to eat or some health care.  Why aren't there more contracts about how much rent a kid should pay until they leave the house?  Or why aren't they required to pay for all that food they eat?  Naturally, we expect the parents to pay for these costs, and if the parents aren't able, there are welfare programs to help them.  Suddenly, the child turns 18 and all bets are off.  They must join the marketplace and make of themselves a commodity to be purchased at an hourly rate.  If they don't have food? Too bad!  No housing? Also, too bad!  Their survival now depends on their ability to sell themselves, valuable or not.  They may be able to create wonderful music, but instead they are brandishing weapons on the battlefield because that is where they could sell themselves.  Their innocence is forgotten, and in the process, so is ours.

So, when the snake comes to bite, be alert. Notice the venom.  Stop the regular thinking.  Take enough pause to start over, look at things anew.  In so doing, innocence returns and so does healthy living.