Quote for today

A new study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health shows that the education and income level of your spouse are very important indicators of your mortality, independent of your own education and income level.

The study found that men married to well-educated women had longer lifespans, all else equal. The researchers suggest that the cause of this might be related to the sharing of information that occurs in close relationships. Well-educated people tend to be better able to take advantage of knowledge about healthy behaviors.

And the critical indicator for a wife’s longevity? Her husband’s income level or social class.
So if you want to live longer, marry a smart woman or a wealthy man!

(from a promotional e-mail of Lumosity)

I did not research the validity of these claims, but I found them funny. I am sure that there is something to it, but I am not sure that the brain games at Lumosity (as good as they may be) produce “well-educated” people.

Wednesday without words

Quote for the week

Spirituality is not about looking away from life but more deeply into it, not about denying the human but about releasing our true selves, and that the life of our truest self partakes of the very substance of God’s life, the One Self that is at the heart of all selves. In Christ, the perfect image of God, we see our truest self.

~J. Philip Newell

in Newell, J. Philip. 1997. Listening for the heartbeat of God : a Celtic spirituality. New York: Paulist Press.

Wednesday without words

Our true heart

Here comes Life Model bite #1:

One of the key concepts of the Life Model is living from “the heart Jesus gave you.” Many people find it difficult to understand what this could mean, especially in reference to the heart. I am not surprised that there is some confusion about our hearts. How should we see our hearts?

When I think of the human heart, the first Bible verse that comes to mind is:

“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. (Jer 17:9)

I guess, I must have heard this verse often enough, to associate it so quickly, even though I do not remember any concrete situation. The basic message, if you consider this verse as defining for what our heart is like, is that our heart can’t be trusted. Never trust your heart (or feelings), only your intellect. Mistrusting our heart, together with feelings and emotions, is very common but not necessarily biblical. If you have read my blog posts on Why Western Christianity Failed, then you already know where this is coming from (see here and here and here for more details).

But this is misleading because there are plenty of other references concerning the human heart that paint quite a different picture:

• We are called to love the Lord with all of our heart. (Dt 6:5, Mt 22:37)
• God said he will write his instructions on our hearts. (Jer 31:33.34 // Hebr 8:10; 10:16)
• We are told to trust the Lord with all of our heart. (Prov 3:5)
• We are told to guard our heart because it is a wellspring of life. (Prov 4:23)
• God made his light shine in our hearts (2 Cor 4:6)
• Christ even decided to live (dwell) in our hearts (Eph 3:17) – then it can’t be such a bad place.

On the background of these verses I am inclined to believe that a better translation of the above verse would be ‘deformed and desperately sick’ (Jer 17:9) as Jim Wilder suggested. I think that ‘deceitful and desperately wicked’ implies intentional badness and a state that is beyond hope, while ‘deformed and desperately sick’ paints the picture of a heart that is not how it should be but that it can be healed. And this is what God promised in Eze 11:19 where God calls the human heart dead (stone) but promises to give people a new heart that is alive and will know his will. Looking at some translators resources I find this view confirmed. Among other things, the heart is described as the place where God communicates with us and that knows Gods will.

In the context of the Life Model the terms ‘the heart Jesus gave you,” “our true heart” and “the heart of hearts” are used interchangeably and refer to the part of our heart that reflects God’s image. We are made in God’s image. Our true heart reflects this and each of us reflects a different aspect of God’s character.

However, this true heart has been buried among a lot of bad stuff – our own sin, as well as the sins of others, and the hurts that have been caused by these. They are like several layers of dirt on our true heart. This is why we often don’t even know our true heart and have problems trusting our heart. As a result, we often react from our hurts, instead of from our true hearts.

Another comparison I found helpful: the true heart is like an x-ray or a diapositive, but there are several other layers of x-rays on top of it, so that it is difficult to see what the original one looked like.

Over the last years I learned to recognize indications of my own true heart.

At first I was very surprised, when a friend exclaimed in a conversation that she can see my true heart in this situation. It was especially surprising because it was not something I had done or thought, but something I wish I had done. So, I thought this is not really me; quite to the contrary – how can this be my true heart? Over time I came to understand that it is the longing to have acted a certain way that is an indication of my true heart, of how God made me.

At the Thrive conference last year, we learned another way of discovering our true heart – by looking at our deepest pain. Often the things that cause us the deepest pain are an indication of the true heart that God put in us – because it is contrary to what we were made to be.

This is the heart Jesus gave you – a small reflection of himself and at the same time an indication for who he has called us to be to glorify him. I find it a worthwhile pursuit to find out more about it. This is what the Life Model is about – learning about the heart Jesus gave you, and learning to live from it. It means discovering of who God originally made us to be and how to live up to our calling and glorifying him through it.

Quote for today

… because there is no need to think a whole week about it .

I should say, looking back calmly on the matter, that seventy-five percent of the West African insects sting, five percent bite, and the rest are either prematurely or temporarily parasitic on the human race. … If you see a thing that looks like a cross between a flying lobster and a figure of Abraxes on a Gnostic gem, do not pay it the least attention; just keep quiet and hope it will go away – for that’s your best chance; you have non in a stand-up fight with a good, thorough-going African insect.

~ Mary Kinglsey, West African Studies

Complex Communication

Cross-cultural communication can be very tricky. Especially when people from indirect cultures communicate with people from direct cultures, and vice versa. The potential for misunderstandings is huge.

This was one of the topics I taught this week. Craig Storti uses the dialogue concept (which was developed by Alfred Kraemer) in his book “Figuring Foreigners Out.” The idea is to bury cultural differences inside a small dialogue to make people think.

I am especially fascinated by the following dialogue between an American employer and an Asian employee.

Ms. JONES: It looks like we’re going to need some people to come in on Saturday.
Mr. WU: I see.
Ms. JONES: Can you come in on Saturday?
Mr. WU: Yes, I think so.
Ms. JONES: That’ll be a great help.
Mr. WU: Yes. Saturday’s a special day, did you know?
Ms. JONES: How do you mean?
Mr. WU: It’s my son’s birthday.
Ms. JONES: How nice. I hope you all enjoy it very much.
Mr. WU: Thank you. I appreciate your understanding.

One reason I find this one so fascinating is that even I did not pick up on everything. Of course, I am not a specialist for Asian indirectness. But would you have noticed that the first two replies from Mr. Wu are an indirect ‘no’?

Ms. Jones did not realize that already her first opening sentence was perceived as an indirect request. Neither did she realize that Mr. Wu answered twice in the negative, but in his indirect style. He was probably wondering why she does not get it, so he tries to be more direct but without success. I did realize that, in the end, they both thought that they had understood each other, but didn’t. Mr. Wu will not come to work on Saturday but Ms. Jones still thought he would. Not a happy ending.

Since my students were all from indirect cultures, one exercise was to rewrite indirect sentences into more direct ones, so that their colleagues from direct cultures would get the message. I have not yet seen all the papers, but I can tell you that it was not an easy task for them. What they considered very direct was still fairly indirect. I guess it is the same for us, from direct cultures – it is hard to be more indirect, and not have the feeling that this way the message will never come across.

On the other hand, we need to realize that in situations where people from several cultures work together, indirect communication is not a good choice. Indirect communication is also called high context. It works well in situations where people have a lot common. Then it is not necessary to spell things out clearly. A lot can be implied and will still be understood because people have an intuitive understanding of each other because of the shared context. This is not the case in more individualistic contexts, nor in multicultural contexts. In these situations it is better to work towards a more direct communication style to avoid misunderstandings. Hopefully with a happier ending.

Cross-cultural communication can be very tricky. Especially when people from indirect cultures communicate with people from direct cultures, and vice versa. The potential for misunderstandings is huge.

This was one of the topics I taught this week. Craig Storti uses the dialogue concept which was developed by Alfred Kraemer in his book “Figuring Foreigners Out.” The idea is to bury cultural differences inside a small dialogue to make people think.

I am especially fascinated by the following dialogue between an American employer and an Asian employee.

Ms. JONES: It looks like we’re going to need some people to come in on Saturday.
Mr. WU: I see.
Ms. JONES: Can you come in on Saturday?
Mr. WU: Yes, I think so.
Ms. JONES: That’ll be a great help.
Mr. WU: Yes. Saturday’s a special day, did you know?
Ms. JONES: How do you mean?
Mr. WU: It’s my son’s birthday.
Ms. JONES: How nice. I hope you all enjoy it very much.
Mr. WU: Thank you. I appreciate your understanding.

One reason I find this one so fascinating is that even I did not pick up on everything. Of course, I am not a specialist for Asian indirectness. But would you have noticed that the first two replies from Mr. Wu are an indirect ‘no’?

Ms. Jones did not realize that already her first opening sentence was perceived as an indirect request. Neither did she realize that Mr. Wu answered twice in the negative, but very indirect. He probably is wondering why she does not get it, so he tries to be more direct but without success. I did realize that, in the end, they both thought that they had understood each other, but didn’t. Mr. Wu will not come to work on Saturday but Ms. Jones still thought he would. Not a happy ending.

Since my students were all from indirect cultures, one exercise was to rewrite indirect sentences into more direct ones, so that their colleagues from direct cultures would get the message. I have not yet seen all papers, but I can tell you that it was not easy for them. What they considered very direct was still fairly indirect. I guess it is the same for us, from direct cultures – it is hard to be more indirect, and not have the feeling that this way the message will never come across.

On the other hand, in situations where people from several cultures work together, indirect communication is not a good choice. Indirect communication are also called high context works well when people share a lot of background in common. This

Wednesday without words

Bist du HSP?

Vor einem halben Jahr entdeckte ich, dass ich HSP (Highly Sensitive Person) bin – das heißt ich bin hoch-sensibel. Das war eine ziemliche Überraschung für mich, da mich bisher nie jemand als zu sensibel bezeichnet hat, eher das Gegenteil. Ausgelöst wurde das ganze durch meine Überlegung, wie es möglich ist, dass ich einerseits sehr sensible auf Lärm reagiere, aber anderseits in einer großen Menschengruppe das Gefühl habe, halb taub zu sein. Auf Empfehlung einer Freundin habe ich mir ihr Buch über HSP ausgeliehen und den Selbsttest von Elaine Aron gemacht – das Ergebnis war eindeutig: ich bin HSP. Als ich dann auf einem Flug die ersten zwei Kapitel des Buches las, hatte ich am Ende eine Liste von mehr als 20 Dingen, die nichts miteinander zu tun haben, die ich über mich selbst wusste und die typisch für HSP sind. Mir sind ganze Kronleuchter aufgegangen. Seither habe ich andere Bücher gelesen und einiges Neues über mich selbst herausgefunden. Während der letzten Monate entdeckte ich auch, dass alle meine besten Freunde HSP sind. Interessant!

Hier einige Beispiele die im Selbsttest von Elaine Aron vorkommen:

• man nimmt Feinheiten seiner Umgebung wahr
• man wird von den Gefühlen anderer beeinflusst
• man hat an geschäftigen Tagen ein starkes Bedürfnis sich zurückzuziehen
• man empfindet helles Licht, starke Gerüche, raue Materialien oder Sirenen als überwältigend
• man hat ein reiches, komplexes inneres Leben
• man empfindet laute Geräusche als unangenehm
• man wird von Kunst und Musik tief bewegt
• man bemüht sich sehr, keine Fehler zu machen und nichts zu vergessen

Um den ganzen Test (in Englisch) zu machen geh auf diese Webpage. Bzw. gibt es einen ähnlichen Test auf Deutsch hier.

Einige Auszüge von HSP Definitionen und Beschreibungen, die man im Internet finden kann:

„HSP sind normale biologische Unterschiede in der Persönlichkeit und Physiologie, die von ca. 15- 20% der Bevölkerung geerbt wurden, und unter allen höheren Tieren zu finden sind. Diejenigen mit diesem Charakterzug nehmen Feinheiten in ihrer Umgebung war.
„Es scheint logisch, dass jene die mehr Feinheiten wahrnehmen daher leicht überwältigt werden von der Fülle der Wahrnehmungen. [Ich denke, dass es vergleichbar ist mit der Erfahrung von Personen mit Hörgeräten, bei denen das natürliche Unterscheiden von wichtigen und unwichtigen Geräuschen fehlt.]
„Der Unterschied ist schwerwiegend, und hat Auswirkungen auf alles was HSP tun sowie ihre körperlichen Reaktionen. Zum Beispiel, sind wir als Gruppe viel sensibler gegenüber Schmerz, Kaffein, Medikamenten, Temperaturen, Licht und Hunger. Wir sind nachdenklicher, tiefgründiger, lernen langsamer aber gründlicher, und sind ungewöhnlich pflichtbewusst.
„Ungefähr zwei Drittel aller HSP reduzieren die Überstimmulierung indem sie Introvertiert sind – d.h. sie bevorzugen wenige enge Freunde, statt sich in großen Gruppen oder mit Fremden zu treffen. Aber ca. ein Drittel der HSP ist Extrovertiert. (www.hsperson.com)

„Ein HSP zu sein ist kein Fehler. Es ist in Wirklichkeit ein erblicher Charakterzug, den man zu seinem Vorteil einsetzen kann. (www.thehighlysensitiveperson.com)

Basierend auf den Einsichten, die ich beim Lesen von Arons Buch erhalten habe, begann ich mich selbst zu beobachten und entdeckte, dass ich wirklich ziemlich oft „überstimuliert“ (Fachausdruck von Elaine Aron) bzw. überfordert bin von Sinnesreizen. Und zwar in Situationen wo ich früher einfach dachte, ich bin müde, gestresst, ‚peopled-out’ („übermenschelt“), usw. oder dass ich einfach wie ein typischer introvertierter Mensch reagiere. HSP nehmen auch leicht die Stimmungen anderer Menschen wahr, was mit ein Grund ist, warum sie sich in Gruppensituationen leicht überfordert fühlen. Ich merke langsam, dass mir das öfter passiert, als ich ursprüngliche dachte.

Ich habe auch festgestellt, dass ich mich in all den Jahren sehr angestrengt habe wie andere „normale“ Menschen zu sein, indem ich mich zwang so viel Lärm, Stress, Menschen, Arbeit, usw. wie andere auszuhalten. Anderseits wurde mir auch bewusst, wie Gott mir geholfen hat, Dinge in meinem Leben zu ändern, die gerade richtig sind für HSP bevor ich wusste, dass ich das bin. Diese Dinge haben mir geholfen die Lärmreiche und Menschenreiche Umgebung hier in Afrika besser auszuhalten.

• Ich weiß schon länger, dass ich mehr Schlaf als andere brauche, und dass mein Tag nicht gut anfängt, wenn ich von einem Wecker aufgeweckt werde.
• HSP brauchen mehr Ruhezeiten als andere. Ich bin froh, dass ich über die Jahre mehr solcher Ruhezeiten in meinen Alltag eingebaut habe.
• Ich brauche eine lange Zeit der Gemeinschaft mit Gott in der Früh, bevor ich bereit bin, den Tag zu beginnen. Für mich bedeutet das vor allem, Zeit in seiner Gegenwart zu verbringen, und nicht wie viele andere eine Aktivität abzuhaken, oft „Stille Zeit“ genannt, bestehend aus strukturierten Gebetszeiten und die Bibel mit einem Plan zu lesen.
• Wenn ich ausgehe am Abend, brauche ich danach Zeit, um zur Ruhe zu kommen.
• Routine ist sehr wichtig für meinen Alltag, inkl. regelmäßige Essenszeiten, Mittagsschläfchen und Fitness.
• HSP tun sich im Allgemeinen schwer mit Veränderungen. Das erklärt warum ich so ungern reise und oft ziemlich lange brauche, bis ich wieder in meine Routine zurück finde, oder mich an eine neue Situation gewöhnt habe.
• Ich kann besser in einer ruhigen und ungestörten Umgebung arbeiten.
• Ich kann schlecht mit ständiger Musikberieselung, Unterhaltungen im Hintergrund oder anderen Hintergrundgeräusche umgehen.
• Ich trinke extrem viel Wasser. Elaine Aron erwähnt, dass das hilft Stress abzubauen. Das erklärt mir, warum ich auch in kühleren Klimazonen viel Wasser brauche. Je mehr ich gestresst bin, desto mehr Wasser brauche ich.
• HSP sind tiefgründige Denker. Sie haben eine angeborene Vorliebe, Informationen tiefer zu verarbeiten, und z.B. gegenwärtige Situationen so vollständig wie möglich mit ähnlichen Situationen in der Vergangenheit zu vergleichen oder zu analysieren. Dies erklärt, warum ich so lange brauche, um Dinge durch zu denken, inklusive dem Analysieren von Filmen oder TV-Shows. Das gleiche gilt für theoretische Probleme oder Spannungen in Beziehungen. Es erklärt auch, warum ich so lange brauche, bis ich in einem Beitrag zu einer Diskussion formuliert habe, oft erst wenn die anderen bereits beim nächsten Thema sind.
• Ich lerne nun, meiner Intuition mehr zu vertrauen. Bisher habe ich sie oft ignoriert wenn ich keinen guten Grund oder einen Namen für etwas hatte. Wenn ich zurückdenke, wird mir klar, dass es viele Situationen gab, in denen ich etwas richtig wahrnahm, aber nicht darauf geachtet habe.
• Ich bin lieber mit ein paar engen Freunden zusammen als auf einer großen Party. Ein Grund dafür ist der höhere Geräuschpegel; der zweite Grund ist, dass es dort oft zu keinen tiefen Gesprächen kommt.
• Ich glaube, ich bin ein guter Beobachter, und lerne jetzt erst, dass ich wahrscheinlich oft Dinge richtige kombiniere.
• HSP sind meist sehr begabt in verschiedenen Bereichen (Entwicklung von Theorien, Analyse, künstlerischer Ausdrucksformen, Einfühlungsvermögen, …), aber sie unterschätzen sich selbst oft und verkaufen sich schlecht. Aber diese Gaben können sich nur dann entwickeln, wenn es uns gelingt, einen HSP freundlichen Rahmen zu finden oder zu kreieren. Dies ist eine ständige Herausforderung.

Typisch für HSP, bin ich sehr gewissenhaft – weshalb es mir schwer fällt, mit der Liste aufzuhören, bevor ich alle relevanten Punkte erwähnt haben.
Aber es reicht auf jeden Fall für einen Anfang. Wenn es dich interessiert, kann ich dir nur empfehlen, das Buch von Elaine Aron zu lesen.

Hier ist eine Liste von Ressourcen über HSP, großteils auf Deutsch:
Das grundlegendste Buch ist von Elaine Aron auf Englisch von Amazon.de erhältlich, gibt es aber auch in deutscher Übersetzung, wie auch ihre Bücher über HSP Kindererziehung und Liebesbeziehungen.

Es gibt auch andere Autoren, die auf Deutsch geschrieben haben:

Georg Parlow – Zartbesaitet. Es gibt von ihm auch einen Nachfolgeband über den Arbeitsplatz. (Ich habe seine Bücher nicht gelesen, kann sie daher nicht ausdrücklich empfehlen.) Damit verbunden gibt es auch eine Internetseite mit vielen Links. Dort gibt es auch einen ausführlicheren Test als der von Elaine Aron.

Ein deutsches Buch aus christlicher Sicht ist „Lasten tragen, die verkannte Gabe“ von Ehepaar Lüling. Ich habe es selber gelesen und kenne viele, die dieses Buch als sehr hilfreich empfanden.

Beide christlichen Bücher (Carol Brown & Ehepaar Lüling) sind von John Sandford (Elijah-House) geprägt, der HSP als Lastenträger bezeichnete und vermutlich schon vor Elaine Aron darüber lehrte, aber selber kein Buch darüber schrieb. Beide Autoren sind von Elijah-House geprägt und verarbeiten Sandfords Ansatz in ihren Büchern weiter.

Nun bin ich natürlich neugierig, wer von meinen Lesern HSP ist.
Weißt du es schon lange? Oder bist du durch diesen Blog-Eintrag drauf gekommen?

Are you HSP?

Half a year ago I discovered that I am HSP – this means that I have a highly sensitive personality trait. This was quite surprising to me because nobody ever called me too sensitive, more to the contrary. What triggered the insight was my sensitivity to noise and the feeling of being half-deaf in group settings (which seems contradictory). Once I did the self-test in the book by Elaine Aron, it became very obvious – I am HSP. When I read the first two chapters of her book during a flight, I ended up with a list of more than 20 items, unrelated things that I knew about myself and that were mentioned as being typical for HSP. I had lots of aha-moments. Since then I read several other books and discovered more about myself. I also discovered over the last few months that all my best friends are HSP. Interesting!

Here some examples of things mentioned in the self test on Elaine Aron’s webpage:

• being easily overwhelmed by strong sensory input
• being aware of subtleties in my environment
• being affected by other people’s moods
• feeling the need to withdraw during busy days
• being overwhelmed by things like bright lights, strong smells, coarse fabrics, or sirens close by
• having a rich, complex inner life
• being uncomfortable by loud noises
• being deeply moved by the arts or music
• trying hard to avoid making mistakes or forgetting things

For the complete test go here.

Excerpts from HSP descriptions found online:

“HSP is a normal biological individual difference in personality and physiology inherited by about 15 to 20% of just about all higher animals. Those with this trait notice more subtleties and process information more deeply.
“Anyone noticing more subtleties would logically also have to be more easily overwhelmed than others by prolonged, intense, or chaotic sound, sights, etc. (I think that this is probably similar to the problem people have with hearing aids, the natural filtering of important from unimportant sounds is missing and therefore it often becomes overwhelming.)
“The difference is quite profound, affecting everything HSPs do and many bodily responses—for example, as a group we are more sensitive to pain, caffeine, medications, temperature, light, and hunger. We are more reflective, learn more slowly but thoroughly, and tend to be unusually conscientious.
“About two thirds of HSPs do reduce the stimulation in their lives by being introverted—preferring a few close friends rather than being in groups or meeting strangers. But about a third are extraverts. (www.hsperson.com)

“Being a HSP isn’t a flaw. It’s actually a genetic character trait that can be used to your advantage. (www.thehighlysensitiveperson.com)

Based on the insights from reading Aron’s book, I started to observe myself and realized that I am actually often “over-stimulated” (term used by Elaine Aron) by sensory stimulants when I previously thought that I am just tired, stressed out, peopled-out, etc. or just being a typical introvert. HSP are also very perceptive to other people’s emotions which is one reason that they easily feel overwhelmed in group situations. I probably experience that more often than I originally thought.

I realized that I have been pushing myself too hard over many years, by trying to be like “normal” people, support as much noise, stress, people, work load, etc. as others. On the other hand, I also discovered that God has helped me make adjustments in my life over the last few years that are just right for HSPs and helped me ’survive’ in the high-people and high-noise environment of Africa.

• I know I need more sleep than others do and starting the day with an alarm clock is not good for me.
• HSP in general need a lot of downtime. I am glad that I have adapted my day to this need before knowing that I am HSP.
• I need a long time of fellowship with God in the morning before being ready to start the day. For me this means spending time in his presence, not the usual checking off of an activity called ‘quiet time’ consisting of structured prayer times and reading the Bible according to a plan.
• Time to unwind in the evening after having been out is very important for me.
• I need a good routine, including regular times for eating, a nap at lunch time and physical exercises.
• HSP in general have a hard time adapting to change. That explains why I find traveling very difficult and it takes me fairly long to settle back into my routine or adapt to new circumstances.
• I am working better in a quiet and uninterrupted environment.
• I can’t handle constant exposure to music, talking or other noise.
• I drink a lot of water, much more than others, which Elaine Aron mentions as a way to reduce stress. This explains why I can’t go very long without drinking water, even in colder climates. The more I am stressed, the more water I need.
• HSP are profound thinkers. They have an innate preference to process information more deeply, to compare the present situation as completely as possible to your knowledge of similar situations in the past. This explains why it takes me such a long time to think through things, including analyzing movies or TV shows. The same applies to theoretical problems or tensions in relationships. It also explains why it takes me so long to formulate my contribution to a discussion, when others have already moved on to the next topic.
• I am realizing that I need to trust my intuition more. So far, when I did not have a good reason or name for what I felt, I disregarded it. Thinking back, I realize that there are many situations where I correctly sensed something but did not pay attention.
• I enjoy being together with a few close friends more than attending a big party. One reason is the higher noise level, the second reason is that there is often no opportunity to go deep in conversations with people.
• I think I am a good observers and I am now learning that I do often make correct deductions from the things observed.
• Being HSP also means being very gifted in different areas (theory building, analysis, artistic expressions, empathy, ..), even though HSPs often underestimate their abilities and sell themselves badly. But these gifts can only develop when we manage to create or find an HSP friendly context. This is an ongoing challenge.

Typical for an HSP, I am very detail oriented and conscientious – which is why it is hard for me to stop here with the list before I have mentioned all the relevant points. But this is definitely enough for a starter. If you are interested I can recommend reading Elains Aron’s book.

Here is a list of resources about HSP:
Online introduction
If you want to know whether you are HSP, do the self test.

The first and most well known book on the subject is from Elaine Aron “The Highly Sensitive Person.” She also wrote several others, for different sub-fields – child raising, relationships / love, work environment.

A very interesting treatment of the topic from a Christian point of view comes from Carol Brown: “The Mystery of Spiritual Sensitivity.”

There are several websites that offer help and/or networking for HSPs

• www.drtedzeff.com
• www.hsperson.com
• www.thehighlysensitiveperson.com

There are also several Facebook groups on the topic.

• http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=2232091680&ref=ts
• http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/The-Highly-Sensitive-Person-Publishing-Company/218089290709?v=wall&ref=ts
• http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?v=info&ref=ts&gid=5553709195

HSP is sometimes misinterpreted as ADD or Asberger Syndrom /Autism. Here is one article that addresses this question.

Now I am, of course, very curious who of my readers is HSP or just discovered it through my blog post.