How about we cut all the BS and get to the real point. Some of us see things differently. Some of us hear things differently, or sense things other people don’t. We come in all different colors, shapes, and sizes . . . and still we’re all human and we all share commonalities.

But, call it what you will, when we’re talking about HSPs, or those who are highly sensitive, intuitive, empathetic, telepathic, and so on . . . When did it become such a shameful thing to call IT for what IT is?

I had a brilliant convo today with a colleague with whom I passionately agreed that since time immemorial—or at least since there have been human beings—there have been people who have such gifts and have been branded in less than desirable ways. In derogatory ways that I choose not to even put on paper. We have reached a point where just about any label is better than “psychic.”

• To some it means charlatan.
• To others, it means you can read their minds.
• And to others still, it means you are plain crazy.

Labels, Schmabels

Well, I’m here to say that I don’t need to couch what I am or what I do in terminology that might make it more palatable for others. Making sure other people are comfortable is a long-time MO of mine, as it is for so many HSPs. (Not that it ever really worked in the long run because people still have to deal with their own you-know-what eventually.)

My recent article on Psychic vs. Sensitive struck a chord with lots of people. The chord got louder when my colleague reminded me about a book she’s reading on HSPs and empathy. The book’s focus (apparently) discusses the similarities and differences between being highly sensitive and being empathetic. I haven’t read the book, so I can’t answer to how valid the author’s point is, especially since the author is a talented researcher and writer. My only purpose here is to pose the question: Why is it important to distinguish between the two? If empathetic means “showing an ability to understand and share the feelings of another,” and psychic means “relating to the soul or mind,” should I apologize for being a psychic or a medium? Would it be easier to swallow if I called myself an empath—which I most assuredly am?

Does different matter?

I’ve already discussed the difference between psychic and mediumship, that the first is perceiving information from other humans and the second is receiving information from the Spirit World (Source/your Higher Self/God, etc.). This is a difference that means something to me because I avoid using my “psychic octopus” to glob about in other people’s minds, hearts, or spirits. If I get a message, I’d rather it be straight from the source, so to speak. But, in the end, the labels only matter as much as we give them credit for mattering. I use the label Highly Sensitive to invite those of us who are any or all of these things to the table where we can honor each other and the greater discussion about who we are, our purpose, and our potential.

* * *

Private coaching sessions with me are available here,  plus multiple healing musical recordings here.

Keep an eye out for my new book, soon to be published: Elevating Your HSP-ness

Check out my posts on the Psychic Octopus (globbing onto other people’s energy); your UES (how to identify and stay in your Unique Energetic Signature); and your IGS (how to confidently and consistently tap into your Intuitive Guidance System.

Thank you for shining your light into the world!

The post HSP: Sensitive, Empathetic, Psychic, or just plain messed up? first appeared on Elevate Your HSP-ness!.

It’s not really news that Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) tend to bask not in limelight, but in anonymity. And it’s not hard to understand why.

• Some of us don’t like the attention on us, the feeling of eyes upon us expecting us to perform.
• Some of us don’t like having to speak up, step up, stand up, or level up according to other people’s expectations.
• Some of us shy away from competition (unless it’s with ourselves).
• Some of us avoid confrontation even if it’s deciding what to have for dinner.
• Some of us would rather die than spend time in a large, loud crowd of people, especially if they’re drinking.

Do you live in your head?

We all spend our lives all up in our heads. The difference is what we spend our time thinking about, reacting to, believing in, and doing with all we think, believe, and react to. If I’m a financial wizard on Wall Street, my thoughts will probably not sound anything like the thoughts of a massage therapist. Not that there won’t be overlap, potential common interests, and so on. But what we think about is how we live our lives. We focus on what we believe matters and what matters is based on our beliefs about what is important.

Who / What is running your life?

The thing about High Sensitives is that we not only have our own thoughts and feelings with which to contend, but other people’s. We’re constantly wondering how people are feeling, what they’re thinking, what they want, what they need. Of us and from us.

And don’t forget those of us who also, without consciously being aware of it, are actually feeling what people are feeling, seeing what’s in their heads, and hearing their thoughts. It’s enough to send you running for the hills.

We (HSPs) say that we feel things more deeply, and yet we get stuck up in our heads as much as the next guy. What we think about may be different, but we’re still up there hacking around, trying to get a handle on things from why the server at the restaurant was so unfriendly to why there’s global warming.

The thing we forget is that we have a choice. We have free will. We have the power to think differently. And, no, after a lifetime of thinking one way about ourselves and the world, it’s not always as easy as switching brands of soap. Still, once you know your options, the shift can be swift and monumental.

Shifting Gears into Shining Your Light

“They say the key to success is to look into the future and visualize what you want to become. But some creatures are perfect just the way they are.  And the special ones, if they stay alive long enough, they grow wings and fly.”—From the film Don’t Talk to Irene, 2017.

So.

Consider the possibility that your current way of thinking may not necessarily be all it’s cracked up to be.

1. Consider that you might not be aware of some perspective shifts that could change the way you think, feel, and live. That a cell-repatterning might be in order!
2. Consider new terminology and new approaches that can shift you into a much higher frequency, and a much higher plane of existence.

Start now.

Check out my posts on the Psychic Octopus (globbing onto other people’s energy); your UES (how to identify and stay in your Unique Energetic Signature); and your IGS (how to confidently and consistently tap into your Intuitive Guidance System.

The post HSPs: Are you hiding or shining your light? first appeared on Elevate Your HSP-ness!.

This morning I had a lengthy conversation with a fellow gym rat. Not that I’m much of a rat…more of a mouse, really. But still. Anyway, seems a dear friend of his from the past, someone he’d lost touch with the last few years yet someone he’d appreciated and revered, had died. This guy at the gym, let’s call him Stew, was obviously experiencing sadness, and disappointment in himself for not having stayed in contact because “now it’s too late.”

I’m an HSP with certain abilities, so it’s up to me.

As an intuitive medium, I was already connecting with Stew’s friend “Jim,” seeing him in my mind’s eye as the powerfully built former linebacker I would soon discover he was (from Stew’s later description), and a man with a heart of gold. Although Stew knows that I “talk to dead people,” we’d never gotten into it before during our brief convos passing from Stairmaster to elliptical. You know, friendly at the gym, but not that friendly. His discomfort (okay, fine, skepticism), apparent by the immediate sliding away of the eyes whenever the topic of my “work” came up, was clear enough. And, since I wasn’t there to disturb his chi or anything, I’d always let it go. But now, Stew had tears in his eyes and I wanted to help. Jim was asking me to help.

Should you share the messages you get? Share what you know, feel, see, hear?

I figured, well, what the heck. Spirit never steers me wrong. I had nothing to lose. Oh so gently I posited to Stew that it might help to know that Jim was feeling pretty good on the Other Side, at ease. That he knows his family misses him, but his death was what he chose because it was easier for everyone than it would have been had he hung around any longer—that a long illness toward death would have been even more painful for everyone. Jim was suggesting that Stew might want to think about writing a note to Jim’s wife to express Stew’s love for this kind-hearted man who thought as highly of Stew as Stew did of him.

Spirit will never guide you wrong.

This afternoon as I sit at my desk waiting for a client to arrive, I keep thinking about Stew and Jim and about the delicate space that exists around sharing when you aren’t at all sure how your sharing will be received. When my phone pinged I was a little surprised to see a text from Stew. We aren’t texting buddies, and in fact had never exchanged more than phone numbers. Still, I felt as if I’d been waiting for the message. Attached were two images, one of Jim as a young sportsman and one of him a couple of years prior to his recent passing. Stew, without admitting to any kind of belief around Spirit, had found a way to let me know, and let Jim know, that connecting with me had connected him to Jim…and that the connection had transmuted some of the ache he’d been holding due to his own guilt over letting the friendship fall by the wayside into a less troubled space. And Spirit, in this case, Jim, was assuring me I’d done the right thing by speaking up with love in my heart.

Miracle or not?

I call this a mini-miracle. I know, I know. Many might, even reasonably, disagree. I mean, what’s so miraculous about someone who absolutely positively doesn’t believe in “stuff like that” feeling potentially comforted by something someone like me or you says? Someone who, just perhaps, understands loss, death, dying, and matters of Spirit and is willing to express that in a moment of need? I’ll tell you.

Turns out, like with everything else, it’s all a matter of perspective. I never saw miracles in my life because I didn’t believe in them. I didn’t believe in them because I had a definition of what they were that couldn’t possibly be supported by “real life.” I also had a long history of hiding what I saw, felt, heard, sensed, knew, and believed when it might have rocked the proverbial boat of reason.

The thing is that keeping quiet is no longer an option. I want to share the loving messages I receive.

• I want to express my truth.
• I want to be authentic.
• I want to feel relaxed and in alignment.

None of which I can do or be if I’m hiding who I am. An HSP, a Highly Sensitive Person, and a person with unique talents and abilities to share.

What are you hiding that is begging to come out of the closet?

The post Coming Out of the HSP Closet first appeared on Elevate Your HSP-ness!.