Monday, May 25, 2015

A Highly Sensitive Person's Life: Stories & Advice for Those Who Experience the World Intensely by Kelly O'Laughlin

★★★

A "light read" that is very informally written. The author makes clear that the book is basically drawn from her blog and podcasts, and indeed, reading the book feels like reading a series of blog posts.

At the beginning of the book, you can follow a link to Dr. Elaine Aron's online test to see if you are a "Highly Sensitive Person", or HSP. According to the test, I am. I don't fit every description in the checklist, but certainly a good number of them describe me.

I could identify with many of the author's anecdotes, such as those about obsessing over conversations; trying to manage your life to minimize or eliminate stress and anxiety; preferring to do activities alone partly because it means not having to inconvenient others, or not having to worry about messing up in front of others or letting down a team; the weight of commitments and schedules; the difficulty of decision-making.

Other aspects did not ring true for me personally, like being over-affected by caffeine, instantly regretting restaurant orders, or having super-sensitive smell or hearing.

This was the first book I picked up after hearing about the idea of a "Highly Sensitive Person", and I think it was a good place to start. It hooked my interest enough for me to find out more. Certainly there was a sense of comfort reading some of the anecdotes and thinking, "Yes! That's just how I feel! You mean, that kind of behavior is really a 'thing', and I am not just being a crazy person?!"

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