Bringing their emotional advocacy to the national gun debate, families of those killed in the Connecticut school shooting are appearing with President Barack Obama and walking the halls of Congress to plead for stricter regulations.

They already have helped push through the nation’s most restrictive firearms law, which Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, D-Conn., signed Thursday.

With no lobbying background and fueled by the power of their emotions, a group of Sandy Hook Elementary School families can take credit for shaping the measure as it moved through the state Legislature.

Now they’re trying to do the same in Washington, where gun legislation is facing tough resistance. Congress is returning from spring break, and the Newtown, Conn., families plan to spend the coming week on Capitol Hill.

Their goal of their personal appeals is to speak to every senator who has yet to express support for the gun legislation, and to show how the Dec. 14 shooting has affected their lives.

“I’m not a constitutional scholar and I’m not a Second Amendment specialist,” David Wheeler, who lost his 6-year-old son, Benjamin, said in a telephone interview.

“I don’t know the ins and outs of gun policy but I know …,” his voice trailed off as a sob catches in his throat. “But I now know one of the things that no father should ever know. And in our system of representative government we have to use our voices.”

Read the rest here.

They have reduced Newtown, a once quiet and amazing town, into nothing more than a place where their tragedy takes precedence and defines Newtown now. Such a shame, that. They will not let it go.

In “Quiet”, a fascinating account of introversion in an extroverted world, Susan Cain notes that by finding one’s “sweet spot”, or the place where they feel neither over-aroused (clouded thinking) nor under-aroused (cabin-feveresque), one is able to cultivate a climate – to the best of our ability to control our climate – that enables us to focus, think and perform at our optimal self. She notes that many of us do this subconsciously; however, mindfulness of such a factor can be life-changing and even saving in some cases.

So, what does this have to do with organization? Everything.

A scattered-brained aka: a brain perpetually in the state of over-arousal, can also be described, and is described in Rhona M. Gordon’s, “Thinking Organized For Parents and Children”, as a “disorganized thinker”.

She explains that a disorganized thinker lacks the executive functioning skills (like goal-setting, planning, revising plan, achieving said plan) as they pertain to fulfilling long term goals, like becoming a fire fighter or short-term goals, like getting to church on time.

Needless to say, I run approximately 30 minutes late to just about anywhere, and still at the age of 37 (gulp), am not sure if I am doing all that I could be doing (or want to be doing) with my life…hellooo, disorganized thinker.

Even more, Rhona refers to a type of memory (in addition to short and long term) called the “working memory”. It is here where data is stored that is currently in use: like the points you’d like to make during an argument with your spouse, or remembering the question that was asked that prompted you to start speaking in the first place. I haven’t quite made the connection between how this fits in, most likely due to my scattered “working memory”, but I am most certain that there is a connection.

So, step #2 to becoming unscattered is to organize my thinking with these five steps:

1. continue to keep calendar and post reminders on said calendar. Keep all other papers, etc. in folders and binders clearly marked.
2. wear a watch and time how long it takes me to get dressed, ready and arrive to places…on time
3. have a place where I consistently put down my important items – so misplaced keys no longer tack on an extra 20 minutes to my already delinquent 30 minutes.
4. Practice good study habits – notes, reviewing, flash cards (I’m a visual learner), outlines, etc.
5. Use memory techniques like: visualization, chunking, acronyms, acrostics and taking notes.

Oh and 6. Increase or lower stimulation to suit my “sweet spot”.

I can’t even begin to organize my life without an organized mind. Wish me luck!

My son J is coming up to four years old and has autism.  Here are some key facts about J that mean shopping trips can invariably become very stressful events:

1)      J often refuses to walk when we are in large shops.  This may be because he also suffers from hypermobility which in turn can cause painful joints and a strange gait.  However, it is more likely that it is because stores such as supermarkets and Toys R Us are a sensory nightmare for J and children like him.  J experiences hyper-sensitivity in a number of his senses including sight, sound and proprioception, and when he walked into your store this afternoon he went into sensory overload.  The bright-lights, garish-colours, shelves-packed-with-toys, children-crying, lights-buzzing, trollies-squeaking, tills-ringing sights and sounds meant that he simply could not put one foot in front of the other.  Adults with autism have described a feeling of “shutting down” when they go into sensory overload.  So J refused to walk once we were within 10 paces of the store’s entrance.

2)      J refuses to sit in the child seats in trollies and will only sit within the trolley itself.  I do not know why this is.  It may be because he once had a negative experience in a child seat and now will always associate these seats with this experience due to the difficulties with social imagination that partly define autism.  It may be because he feels more secure surrounded by the “walls” of the trolley, and has a sense of reassurance in an environment that otherwise feels so overwhelming for him.  Believe me, it is very unhelpful for me to have to allow him to sit in the trolley itself.  If you have ever tried to fit a week’s worth of groceries into a trolley that already has a child in it, you will know what I mean.

3)      J equally refuses to sit in a buggy.  Again I can only speculate as to the reason, but I suspect he sees a buggy as being for a baby.  His inability to think flexibly due to his autism means that as he is not a baby, a buggy cannot possibly be for him.

4)      J has a twin sister.  This means that whatever kind of behaviour J is displaying, I can never give him my undivided attention as I always have another young child to consider.

5)      As a single mother I cannot always carry out my shopping trips without my children.  Sometimes I simply have to take them with me.  And sometimes I choose to take them with me, since sheltering J from the real world will not be helpful when he is grown up and forced to deal with the real world alone.

I appreciate that some of these factors were not immediately visible this afternoon when, as we entered your store, one of your employees stopped me to tell me my child could not sit in the trolley itself due to “health and safety reasons”.  This is why I took the time to calmly explain J’s needs, and reassure the sales assistant that J would sit quietly in the trolley.  Explaining this calmly was more of a feat than it sounds, as by this point J was screeching loudly, clapping his hands over his ears, and shouting out the names of children’s television characters as this is one of his coping mechanisms when he needs something else to focus on.  When your employee replied that it was “company policy” and that I would have to put J in the child seat, I attempted to do so.  Your employee then witnessed my struggle as I tried to force my screaming child into a seat he did not want to sit in.  He witnessed J hitting and kicking me in an attempt to break free, then when I stood J on the floor instead, he witness J clawing at my clothes and begging “carry me, carry me”.

When I turned back to your assistant I asked him what he thought I should do.  I told him that I could not carry J.  He is far too heavy for me, and I needed to push the trolley in which his sister was sitting (within the designated seat, you will be delighted to note).  I could not abandon our shopping trip as we needed a birthday present for a party we were attending later the same day.  Of course at that moment, witnessing my distress and having heard my explanation for J’s behaviour, there are a number of responses the sales assistant could have given.  Perhaps he would permit me to pass him and continue shopping provided I guaranteed to keep J seated in the back the trolley and not allow him to stand.  Perhaps he would even ask me to sign a disclaimer.  Maybe he would offer to accompany me around the store to assist a family clearly in some difficulty.  Or perhaps he would keep blandly stating “Sorry, it’s company policy.  Health and Safety”.  I think you can probably guess which option he went for.

So, pushing my daughter in the trolley with one hand, and half-carrying, half-dragging J with the other hand, I proceeded into the store.  J’s crying by this point had reached a ferocious volume, and I was continuing to be hit and kicked for the duration.  Other customers stared openly at my “naughty” son, tutting their disapproval at his behaviour and, no doubt, at my parenting.  Once we were out of your employee’s line of vision, I put J into the trolley, where he immediately calmed and sat quietly for the remainder of our visit.

I do understand the reasoning behind your “company policy” stating children may not sit in trollies except in the designated seats.  I realise that the purpose of this policy is to pre-empt an accident following which your company could be sued for large sums of money and receive any amount of bad press.  Of course I could suggest that Toys R Us are more concerned with protecting yourselves than with the wellbeing of your young customers, but I won’t.  I could launch into a bitter tirade about this being an example of “health and safety gone mad” (which it is) but I won’t.

However, I can’t help but wonder whose health and safety was being protected this afternoon when we were essentially refused entry to the store until I took J out of the trolley.  Certainly not J’s.  The absolute safest place he could have been was inside the trolley, which would have avoided a sensory meltdown that could have potentially caused him to bump into displays or fall to the ground.  Certainly not mine, as I am currently undergoing physiotherapy for a back injury aggravated by J’s insistence to be carried when we are out.  The spattering of bruises covering my legs and chest are evidence of the kicking and punching I had to endure.  And I can only assume a Health and Safety policy would need to protect mental health and wellbeing too.  I don’t think it is necessary for me to point out the difference in stress levels for both J and myself when comparing a shopping trip when he sits in a trolley to a visit when he cannot.  Was your policy protecting the Health and Safety of your employees then, or of your other customers?  Again, I don’t think so.  A child who is so distressed and overwhelmed that his behaviour is temporarily out of control clearly poses a greater risk to others than one sitting in the confines of a trolley.

I would therefore like to respectfully suggest that as well as making sure Toys R Us’ 70,000+ employees have a rigorous understanding of Health and Safety policies in order to protect yourselves from potential law suits, they also receive training in qualities such as “flexibility” and “compassion”.  I also suggest that your employees undergo autism awareness training.  Around one in one hundred children have an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).  This means your employees come into contact with significant numbers of autistic children each and every day.  A little understanding of what a trip to your store is like for a child with ASD (and their parents) would go a long, long way.  Circulating a copy of this letter around your 1500 stores would be an excellent start, as it will give your staff an insight into the experiences of one little boy and his mother.

Yours sincerely,

Ms L

To kick things off we have a glowering Scorpio Sun trining Chiron, teacher of spiritual mysteries. This casts a definite mystical or poetic glow over the weekend, but because Chiron is wounded and is in watery Pisces it can also bring on hyper-sensitivity, tears and sadness. It’s a poignant and nostalgic aspect which can make us feel a little bit sorry for ourselves if we’re not careful. With this kind of energy at large it’s best to channel it into activities which demand that kind of sensitivity – watch a sad movie, or a tragedy at the theatre, or go to a poetry reading or concert – anything which demands poetic sensibilities to really understand and ‘get’ the artist’s message.

Given the crazy weather right now Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ might be just the thing to go and see – a positive outlet for the Sun trine Chiron sensitivity

Still feeling the effects of the Sun/Chiron trine we get Mars confronting Jupiter. Mars is feeling strong and independent in Sagittarius, he doesn’t want anyone cramping his style and he wants to give Jupiter a piece of his mind. Jupiter, on the other hand, usually the optimistic and jovial happy guy of the skies, is not comfortable in Gemini and is going over his tracks and so is not in a good place to face Mars. Left to its own devices this aspect looks a bit like bullying – Mars in Jupiter’s own sign of Sagittarius has found out some things about Jupiter and he wants to let rip and all Jupiter can do is stand and face it. In terms of our own lives it does show an energy which could easily tip into confrontational, bullying behaviour – really it would be best to keep these energies separate as they are simply going to irritate one another. Mars should head into the country for some exercise and leave Jupiter to his pondering. In reality that’s not so likely to happen – so if you do find yourself getting irritated and frustrated with people around you it’s best to practice counting to ten before you give them a piece of your mind. On the other hand, if you find yourself on the receiving end of someone else’s frustrations it would be a good idea not to react blindly but to listen, hear what they have to say and try to understand how to improve things for everyone concerned.

If you can’t get out into the country to let off some steam make sure you count to ten before letting your frustrations rip

As Mercury then tips into Sagittarius the desire to spill the beans on everything he’s found out in Scorpio becomes stronger – Mercury is supporting Mars in this stand-off with Jupiter. The sharp sarcasm of Mercury in Scorpio might have gone but now instead we get an ultra fast Mercury who doesn’t stop to think about what he says and doesn’t really understand how to take anyone’s feeling into account. Good humour will save the day – and Sagittarius and Jupiter are both strong on humour. Although Jupiter might have to put up with being the butt of the jokes rather than making them himself. After the sensitivity of the Sun/Chiron trine the best thing to do on Sunday might be to watch something funny or go to a comedy show to bring out the humour in this energy.

Fortunately we have Venus making a move to help keep things pleasant – she’s still in sextile to Mercury and shortly after he heads into Sagittarius she moves into Libra. Venus is happy in Libra, and she’s strong – this is home turf for her and she’s going to go around trying to persuade everyone to be nice to one another. Venus in Libra is diplomatic, cultured, refined – not for her any of these messy hurt feelings, sadness or anger of the past day or two – she wants everyone to behave and be nice and she’ll do everything she can to make sure that happens.

Venus in Libra will enjoy the soothing atmosphere and calm of an art gallery

And then, just as things are settling down and the anxieties felt with two planets (Venus and Mercury) about to change signs have lifted along comes the Moon, big and bright and very nearly completely full shedding a light on everything that’s been going on, showing where there are still unresolved tensions and where we aren’t quite fulfilling our potential – look at all the yods in this chart. It’s a temporary and transient thing – the Moon moves very quickly – but the underlying patterns are still there. As the Moon moves towards full it gives us a great opportunity to take a look at our lives, our hopes and dreams and see where there are great opportunities to build and where things aren’t working so really should be let go of.

More on the full Moon next.

I was wondering how on earth shows like “Real Housewives of Orange County”, “Real Housewives of New Jersey” and all those silly reality shows based around women could be so entertaining and I believe I have figured it out: Females have a tendency to turn a nothing in to a something and we also behave as if that something is the end of time. We continue to build it up in our head and create a ball of fury which makes us become bitter towards whoever our target is. I was chatting to some friends last night about how sick and tired I am of having to deal with people who cannot vocalise their issues and who would rather sulk for an eternity in silence, because dealing with whatever it is that is bothering them would be asking too much. I’m realistic and I can understand that you will not like everyone and that people will do things that annoy you from time to time, but I also believe that if something has upset you then you should talk about it and not stick your nose in the air sulk like a child.

I wonder how many of these petty fights are based on miscommunication? I am not saying I am innocent, but I’ve always opened my mouth when something has bothered me. I’m working on being more tactful. So ladies, now we know why we are so entertaining and why men poke fun at us for being over-sensitive. I’m also very guilty of taking everything personally, but I also know that when I do that I am just being hyper-sensitive and I’m just being silly. The best thing you can do is learn to laugh at yourself. It’s not always easy, but it takes some of the unnecessary drama out of your life.

Feel free to take this personally if you like. Apparently, everything I say is personal attack on someone I know

ME

]]> http://thundercoaster.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/hyper-sensitive/ Fri, 05 Oct 2012 11:34:37 +0000 Thunder http://thundercoaster.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/hyper-sensitive/ The silence speaks loud enough for me, I can hear without words, see without looking and understand without asking. I felt it. Felt the shift, that small tremble, that changed everything.

Explanations are unnecessary, I think you’re trying to convince yourself more than me. I find no comfort in your words, for I know they are made up. It’s what you tell yourself, because you cannot reason this turn of events. You didn’t feel the earthquake like I did, you didn’t see the little light go out or feel the energy change form. To you, I guess it just.. happened. You don’t know why or how, you only know that it did. So you find explanations, trying to tell me what went wrong. But darling, I already know. I saw it coming a mile away, when you were still slumbering in happiness, I fastened my seat belt and got ready for the crash.

The signs are impossible not to notice for me, I see the picture before it’s been developed, see the little signs pointing towards the inevitable. The way you pronounce your words, the way your eyes move a millisecond faster, or the way you’re not as soft as you were. I notice how your humor changed, how you started laughing a little bit too late, at all the wrong jokes. I felt the two seconds longer it took you to take my hand, the almost invincible twitch in your eye. Maybe you hadn’t even felt it yourself yet. But I did.

And I don’t mind so much, for I know I sparked the tremble myself. I made the earth shake just a little bit, just enough. I uttered the words that begun the process, and I felt the emotions fade away so quickly that energy changed its very form. Suddenly I’m not dependent anymore. And my independence changed everything. You noticed, how I wasn’t freaking out anymore. Didn’t get jealous, didn’t worry about not hearing from you. I wasn’t as concerned with what you said, and I didn’t smile quite the way I used to. You might even have seen it as a good sign, me trusting you more, getting more comfortable.

But it’s not. It’s me letting go of you. Releasing myself from your grip, and preparing to pass this bridge. It all happened in that one moment. Such a short, fleeing moment in time. Such a minor detail, that it completely passed you by. But in that moment… Everything changed.

So I know. Understand how you feel, I get why you changed. There is no need to make a break, no need to explain. You will only hurt yourself, for I made a choice. Somewhere, deep down in my subconsciousness, I decided that you were not the one. And in that split second.. I could feel the energy move between us. The power had shifted, and nothing would ever be the same again.

So please, don’t speak. Let’s just let go.

So when an Allergy Specialist told me some time ago that I’d become hyper-sensitive to a chemical found in most cosmetics and skincare brands, you can imagine I wasn’t too happy. My symptoms had developed over several months – starting as a small patch of dry skin on the bridge of my nose, which after a week or 2 began to spread! My eyes were incredibly itchy all the time and the rash, in the end, covered my forehead and cheeks. Thankfully (or so I thought) make-up covered it, but at night when I washed my face the rash was very “angry” looking and the dry patches were getting worse. Also, I’d get a burning sensation on my skin which was actually quite painful at times. Did I have eczema, atopic dermatitis, perioral dermatitis, contact dermatitis or rosacea? Who knew??

© Picsfive | Dreamstime.com

I went to the doctors a few times, being prescribed steroid creams of varying strengths, anti-fungal creams and antibiotics. In the end I went to see the above mentioned specialist as nothing was improving. I had 2 patch tests done (the first was inconclusive) resulting in reactions to Ethylenediamine and a couple of other allergens that apparently weren’t relevant (meaning I had contact dermatitis). He also concluded my skin had become addicted to the steroid cream which I’d been prescribed by the doctor which was making my symptoms worse! Ethylenediamine is closely related to EDTA, DTA, DETA, PEHA and TETA, preservatives and chemicals used in skincare products and apparently my skin had had enough and gone on strike!

I guess some would say it’s my own fault. I’ve tried almost every lotion and potion out there (under the £100 price mark) and as I have combination skin, I’ve used the strongest spot creams I could get my hands on, home acid peels (not as bad as it sounds, I got it from No. 7 at Boots) and every scrub and face mask going. Therefore, when the specialist  simply said not to wear make-up for a few months and see how things settled down, I won’t repeat the thoughts going through my head!!

In a nutshell, I wanted to say that putting on my make-up is a “daily ritual” and that casually wandering through the make-up department in Selfridges, seeking out exciting new products was as much part of my routine as weekly yoga… Then there’s the small fact that about 10 years ago I met someone without my eyeliner on and they asked me, with a worried look on their face like I was ill or something, whether I was “Ok”?? Now I’m not one of those creatures who can’t be seen without make-up on ever, I just know that I look a whole lot better with it on than off!

After the results of my patch tests I went straight to my usual go-to stores with my list of “no go” chemicals… and I was in for a shock. They were in everything – foundation, mascara, eyeshadow, shampoo, fake-tan…. The list was endless. I suddenly had a sinking feeling as I realised if I was actually going to try and avoid these so called “nasties” I was going to have to make some very big changes to my lifestyle AND make-up bag. I was actually going to have to start thinking about what I was putting on my skin…

My fabulous Pai purchases!

I do have friends who have embraced the “Organic” path and one in particular spends most of her spare time in “As Nature Intended”, on Balham High Road in London. I had been in before for “special” tea-bags and the like but never for skincare stuff because I spent enough elsewhere and I wanted the best results possible, so assumed I had to buy things from “proper” skincare brands…

So after a bit of research, ok a lot of research, I decided to try a brand called Pai and give their cleanser and moisturizer a whirl. Pai was created by Sarah Brown, who suffered from a bad skin allergy herself – and it was fascinating to read on the website about how many women in their 30′s could no longer use regular cosmetics due to chemical irritant dermatitis… which was me! I’m certain that because so many strong products have been widely available to my generation since our teens, that we’ve basically overloaded our systems with chemicals and become hyper-sensitive! It made me think about the cleansers, toners and primers etc… (another endless list) that I’ve put on my skin… And I realised that I’ve probably absorbed more “evil” chemicals at the age of 33 than many people (who don’t wear make-up) do in a life-time!

So what’s the alternative? Well there are many organic skincare brands out there, even though I found make-up shopping more difficult. Apart from the Pai products I’m now using I’ve also visited The Organic Pharmacy on Argyll Street, off Oxford Street in London. They had a very good selection of products… But there’s one small problem – the cost. Recently, I have spent more on skincare and stuff than I ever did, which is saying something! Organic shampoos and conditioners seem to be especially costly - probably because I’ve been used to going into Boots and getting 3 for 2!

However, there is some good news. My skin is so much better and I feel less “allergic” generally. It’s taken about 6 months but I actually feel like I’m getting the chemicals (which let’s not forget are potential carcinogens) out of my system and I’m happy to be taking more responsibility for my internal well being. Going organic isn’t cheap and of course I will still buy the new “must have” MAC lipgloss/Chanel nail varnish etc (I haven’t completely turned my back on the old me! And maybe I’ll be able to re-introduce some of my old favourite products slowly?), but I feel that by changing even just a few of the products that we use daily, we can potentially reduce problems for ourselves in the future… Just take a look at the ingredients list on the side of your shampoo bottle when you’re next showering – you’ll be stunned by all the names, letters and numbers that you don’t understand. I didn’t do very well in A-Level Chemistry so I’m hardly an expert but regarding the chemicals we put on our skin, I’d say less is definitely more!

What I’ve tried:

PAI -

• Camellia & Rose Gentle Hydrating Cleanser
• Blossom BioAffinity Toner
• Chamomile & Rosehip Sensitive Moisturiser
• Rosehip BioRegenerate Oil
• Eye cream and lip balm

THE ORGANIC PHARMACY - www.theorganicpharmacy.com

• Carrot Butter Cleanser (excellent!)
• Self Tan
• Organic Glam Foundation.

DR. HAUSCHKA - www.drhauschka.co.uk

• Volume Mascara
• Liquid Eyeliner.

REN – www.renskincare.com

• Guerande Salt Exfoliating Body Balm (AMAZING!)

LAURA MERCIER – www.lauramercier.com

Laura Mercier isn’t exactly organic, but the mineral powder foundations tend to have less ingredients than other formulations and I found it great on my skin as an alternative to the Organic Glam Foundation. I’m going to use the latter when it’s warmer as I find the mineral powder a little heavy when it’s hot.

GREEN PEOPLE – www.greenpeople.co.uk

For shampoos, conditioners, fake-tan and suntan lotion

JOHN MASTERS - www.johnmasters.co.uk

Bare shampoo and Conditioner are expensive but very light

ADDITIONAL HELPFUL LINKS:

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_advice/examinations/patchtesting.htm

http://www.greenlivingonline.com/article/six-makeup-chemicals-avoid

http://www.theorganicpharmacy.com/natural-health/ingredients-carcinogen

• Sensitif dengan segala bentuk suara, sentuhan, rasa, bau dan perasaan.
• Gampang ngerasa sakit physically dan emotionally. Sangat touchy.
• Ngurus banget sama apa yang dipikirin bahkan kadang, dirasain, orang tentang dirinya. Biasanya dengan bentuk menghindari membuat kesalahan atau kelupaan sesuatu.
• Intuitif. Bisa banget ngerasain mood dan emosi orang-orang di sekitar.
• Nggak suka menjadi pusat perhatian, di tengah-tengah crowd atau lingkungan baru.
• Tend to over analyze segala sesuatu yang lagi happening di sekitarnya dan take things personally.
• Butuh waktu untuk menyendiri, setidaknya once every day.
• Tidak nyaman dan cenderung menghindari any kind of violence, argument juga bentuk confrontation lain.

Sungguh sangat tidak disangka sekali tapi sekaligus juga bikin manggut-manggut ketika aku akhirnya mengetahui kenapa aku kok cenderung sangat mengkomplekskan segala sesuatu yang terjadi di sekitarku. Ada orang ngelakuin apa dikit langsung dibahas, ngelakuin salah dikit langsung dianalisa terus ngajak omong sana sini, dan parahnya, dielus rambut dikit sama pacar langsung protes karena his touch felt so awkward to me. Entah mengapa. And now I know the answer.

Kekuatan membaca ya, sangat luar biasa. Kemana aja sih selama ini, Gita? Anyway. Menurut Aron, HSP adalah satu kondisi dimana otak cenderung menyerap informasi dari lingkungan dengan (terlalu) detil. Dan kalau dari daftar di atas, kamu merasa mengiyakan kebanyakan, jangan khawatir karena aku bersamamu dan kita bukan sedikit dari bagian orang-orang yang mempunyai masalah sensitif tinggi ini.

Ada banyak orang di berbagai belahan bumi ini yang memiliki masalah kesensitifan ini kok. Dan meskipun HSP cenderung membuat orang menjadi gampang panik, ternyata orang-orang besar seperti Abraham Lincoln dan Lady Diana adalah orang-orang yang memiliki HSP. Yap, di samping sifat hyper sensitive yang annoying banget karena dikit-dikit semua hal dipikir, orang-orang HSP juga tend to care more to others.

Untuk tau lebih jauh dan sharing seputar HSP ini, kalian bisa langsung mengunjungi website The Highly Sensitive Person.

However when you are in the hypersensitivity range on the scale, your body, mind and energy system cannot function effectively as your system is out of synch, and therefore more vulnerable to being affected or influenced by outside stimuli.

Today, most people live and work in high density and populated cities. Existing in such close proximately put huge demands on your energy system. Plus your swimming in a sea of man-made energies as well as a concoction of man-made products and pollution that your body has to: ingest, breathe and absorb. Your exposure and susceptibility to them is harder to detect as most are invisible and have no smells. Most importantly scientific research doesn’t take into account their combined effect on the human body.

Their combined effect on your body can be quantified with the heightened levels of hyper-sensitivities, intolerances and allergic reactions to man-made technologies with the unprecedented high level of: illness, disease and susceptibility to injury.

In response to this your body being hypersensitive can go into overdrive, your immune system becomes compromised; your coping mechanism and ability to adapt become less resilient. For some people, that can include a range of symptoms on varying levels including – emotional, psychological, energetic, physiological and behavioural.

OK, lets take a deep breath for a moment and not get into a panic. Follow this post and we will discover more about hypersensitivity and how we can adapt to the environment that we live and work in…to be continued in part 2.

cont…

In fact, before we move on to my experiments and exploration, I would like to say that having removed 16 food intolerances from my diet, wasn’t a solution as such. Yes, it provided me a reprieve from all the triggers of my bowel symptoms, but all in all when I reflect back I think it added to my hypersensitivity. What I mean is the more foods I removed from my diet the more hyper-sensitive I became to those food types when I accidentally ate them. Or maybe it was me becoming paranoid, or a bit of both? Needless to say it got to the point that any small exposure to the 16 food types was enough to affect me.

I am not saying that you would be affected in the same way. In short taking a food out of your diet can bring temporary relief but it is not the solution.

Moving on. I opened an Organic Food shop in 2001 and this is where I began experimenting with my diet. I have to say this was a hugely demanding period for both myself and my family. However in retrospect I feel I gained so much from the knowledge, experiences and experiments.

At this stage I was a pescetarian i.e. a vegetarian who eats fish. I had withdrawn the 16 food types from my diet and all of a sudden I found myself in an oasis of wholefoods. The shop was 100% organic so that is what became of my diet. If I recall my first decision was to become vegan, this was partially an ethical decision but also a way to simplify my diet. Simplicity was what my diet was to become.

A note here for anyone else considering making radical decisions like becoming vegan. It is radical – You will more than likely loose weight! You will most likely become very light i.e. less grounded! If you are to consider such a move you need to educate yourself about nutrition in order to make sure you have a balanced diet. Also you need to learn about food preparation and cooking. Without such skills you can put your health at risk! Even with all the knowledge and access to information when I started to experiment with being a vegan I still lost lots of weight. This was a problem because I was already at the lower range of your natural body weight before I became vegan. [to be continued...]

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cont…

Firstly I should note that I did not know I was hyper-sensitive let alone know what it is. I just had symptoms that just made life so miserable.  It all started when I was about 15-years-old,  when I used to experience excruciating pain in my stomach. Enough to make me clench and roll into a ball unable to control or escape from it. This was the start of 17 years of hell, not only for me, but my family to be in later years.

Having regular episodes I was in and out of hospitals and Gastroenterologist’s offices. I just remember them saying to my parents its just constipation, nothing to worry about. Just take some decongestants and he will be OK.  Episode after episode I was becoming used to being belittled and called a hypochondriac which was a label that stayed with me for years thereafter.

Even if the doctors were right about it being constipation it wasn’t natural to be experiencing this hair-wrenching level of pain. But no-one picked up on this. I had various invasive, unpleasant let alone humiliating exploratory tests where they would stick cameras down my throat [Endoscopy] or up my rear end [Colonoscopy]. Results indicated inflammation in various areas of by stomach and intestines. But they offered no solution, remedy or answer to what would in time lead to even harsher symptoms and increase my overall hypersensitivity to chemicals, noise, pollution, materials, electrical cables and devices, people, buildings and 16  food intolerances….[to be continued]

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Bio-electromagnetism has 2 components – the electrical current  and its bi-product magnetism, which forms a circuitry system in  and around the human body. Looking at the basics most of you  are aware of human electrical currents, particularly if you have  had the unfortunate experience of an electrical shock, or being wired up to an ECG machine in a hospital where your heart electricity has been measured.

And for those of you who studied GCSE physics and played around with batteries and iron fillings then you will understand the reality of electromagnetism being a bi-product of electricity.

At this point I am going to open this post to discussion by leaving this post with a couple of questions to help you consider the tangibility of what I will expand further on in this discussion.

• Have you experienced a change in your own body’s energy, mood or sensation [subtle or pronounced are equally important] when you have come into contact with other people?
• Do you remember old analogue radios and televisions? Can you recall that if you were to stand close by you would affect the picture or the sound. Or have you touched or walked on a surface that has caused a static electricity.

Please post your comments and thoughts and look forward to discussing more in our next post.

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Bio-electromagnetism has 2 components – the electrical current  and its bi-product magnetism, which forms a circuitry system in  and around the human body. Looking at the basics most of you  are aware of human electrical currents, particularly if you have  had the unfortunate experience of an electrical shock, or being wired up to an ECG machine in a hospital where your heart electricity has been measured.

And for those of you who studied GCSE physics and played around with batteries and iron fillings then you will understand the reality of electromagnetism being a bi-product of electricity.

• Have you experienced a change in your own body’s energy, mood or sensation [subtle or pronounced are equally important] when you have come into contact with other people?
• Do you remember old analogue radios and televisions? Can you recall that if you were to stand close by you would affect the picture or the sound. Or have you touched or walked on a surface that has caused a static electricity.

It is these subtle sensations in our body that are so important. Even though they are subtle you should not underplay their importance.

You see living in the modern society in the 21st century, we are so distracted by everything that goes on in our environment. Whether it is the thoughts of work, relationships, finance, man-made electromagnetic frequencies or the noise of people and traffic. They distract you from hearing what is going on, in and around your own energy system.

Lets say we were to enclose you in an isolation chamber, which blocked out all the frequencies sounds and distractions. You would be overwhelmed by what you would hear and feel in your own body…the tingling, twitching, currents, surges, flickering, pressure, heat coolness that moves from one part of your body. Your awareness to it, the movement and constant change in sensation is quite remarkable. This is your bioelectromagnetic current that flows through and around your body. It is very real and it is very tangible.

Some of you will know what I am talking about because you are hypersensitive, to energy. Unfortunately a few of you also know how your hyper sensitivity can be out of synch and you find that having this hyper-sensitivity to energy can be disruptive and debilitating. Whether you are hypersensitive to energy or totally numb to it, don’t panic, there is plenty of time to adjust your sensitivity, so that you can experience the positive aspect to feeling your body’s energy circuitry and turn it into a positive tool.

As you hopefully have established so far your body has a current. Well just as individual as you are as a person, so is your body’s energy system. What we are talking about are frequencies. Your body has a unique frequency that incorporates every cell in your body. This gives you your unique identity and DNA.

Each person you come into contact has a unique bio-electromagnetic frequency. And just like magnets you are attracted or repelled from them. So that is why we are pulled towards someone or repelled away from him or her. Therefore what I am saying is that either your frequencies connect with someone or not and your body’s energy system reacts accordingly.  You may find yourself drawn to some people, whereas others you may find repelling – they may drain you instead of energizing you.

I will explain more about how these frequency connections relate to thoughts, emotions and the body’s energy system in future blog posts, but plenty to think about for now.

Michael Cohen, The Hypersensitivity Expert

Ambien.

Like I said, if you have never tried Ambien or seen someone take Ambien, well… I think it’s probably something you need to experience/witness in your life because it is amazing. I can’t believe it’s legal, and quite frankly, I’m not so sure that it should be.

I have insomnia. I have it pretty bad. There have been periods in my life when I haven’t really slept for months at a time. But even I don’t have insomnia so bad that I need a perscription of Ambien. That stuff is serious. But my mom takes it every night. I don’t think she would be able to sleep ever again if she got off of it, because it’s so unlike natural sleep that I’m sure her body wouldn’t have a clue how to adjust. I’m not sure I would know how to adjust to my mother NOT taking Ambien either. I mean, we are talking about a woman who went outside in the middle of the night in her pj’s and washed her car without remembering it. The only reason she pieced it together in the morning is because well, her car was really clean, and a hose and bucket were out. My lovely step father confirmed the story. (I’m sure he was probably hoping she would do his car too, so he didn’t stop her). But that is neither here nor there.

I have taken Ambien a hand full of times (or more) and let me just tell you a few of the things I can expect when taking Ambian:

hallucinations. I usually Hallucinate that there are more people in the room than there actually are, although they manage to stay only in my peripheral vision. And I do almost always hallucinate midget doctors running around my room. I can only see the top of their heads skimming the end of my bed, or a flash of a white doctors coat as they run away.

-I also see demons. Now, this goes a little deeper than the Ambien I am sure, because I am what you would call a ‘Hyper Sensitive’ or in other words, someone more susceptible to seeing ghosts or being possessed or having paranormal experiences. (These are all stories I will tell you in time). So when I say I see demons, I really do. My husbands face once turned into a demon when I was talking to him on Ambien. This upset him. It did not upset me, however, because Ambien makes me very calm and nothing really is scary about any of this when I’m on it.

-I also eat. That is the most common side affect for most people, says the commercial. You eat without remembering it. And it’s true. This is a very common occurence with my mother. She once left a telltale trail of crumbs from the kitchen to the living room where she often sucame to the drug. We have also been known to leave a trail of candy wrappers, or food out on the counter like ice cream, or even finishing something off entirely.

-And I can pretty much count on having to be taken to bed. If I don’t make it to my bed within 15 mins of taking the meds… well… good luck to whoever is around me.

So these are a few of the things to expect if you or someone you know takes Ambien. And now that you know a little back ground, I’m going to move on to the story for the day.

My story begins at the end of my relationship with SinkinShip, the boy I was dating when I went to Europe in an earlier blog. Our relationship did not end favorably. I had to move out of his house quickly and painfully, shortly after returning from said trip to Europe. So this story takes place within a month of my return.

I had moved in with two girlfriends, both of whom were not home on this fateful night. I was upset at the end of my relationship, as well as dealing with being back from such a life changing trip. (If you’ve ever been abroad, you can relate the the fact that it is hard to readjust back to life without that kind of amazement everyday). So to distract myself from crying, I was reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Great book. My favorite of the series. And of course I got to the party where Cedric kicks the bucket and so the water works started again and my head was just pounding so I decided to take an IB Profin.

I thought I took an IB Profin, but really I took an Ambien. Let this be a lesson to you: DO NOT CARRY AMBIEN WITH ANY OTHER MEDICATION. You never know when you might be upset and exhausted and not careful.

So thinking I had taken an IB Profin (thank God I only took one), I sat back down to read. 20 minutes passed (this drug hits you quick), and the pages were getting blurred. I figured that it was probably because I had been crying and trying to focus too hard, so I set the book down and headed for the couch to watch some tv. I remember stumbling a little and feeling light headed and being concerned that I couldn’t walk.

That’s the last thing I remember clearly.

The next thing I know, I wake up face down in a pile of Triskets in my living room and my friend, JumpSki, is shaking me awake. Now, at the time, I didn’t find this odd at all but I WAS overwhelmed by a crazy strong craving for orange juice.

“I want orange juice,” I told JumpSki, before he could even ask me for an explanation.

“I know,” he told me and held up a bag with two jugs of orange juice. What an amazing coincidence I thought! Of all the things he could have brought, he brought orange juice. I didn’t know why he was there, or why he was so concerned, but he had OJ and that was okay by me.

As the story goes, apparently I called him sometime after I realized I was having trouble walking and requested that he come over quick and bring orange juice. From what he said, he could hardly understand me and could tell that I was upset, so he came a-running. Bless his heart.

So JumpSki cleaned up the Triskets and put me to bed, which is where the midget doctors came into play. I can only assume that he either figured out what I had accidently taken, or he just thought I was weird enough to be acting that way. But whatever the case, he stayed around until I fell asleep and the doctors went away.

So yea, Ambian is no joke. I don’t recommend taking it alone. Although, if you do take it with someone else, make sure you have a video camera because Raps, MacTen and I have been known to do that too. We got ourselves stranded on a mattress in the dinning room and grew old, very old, together before escaping Ambien’s grasp.

Good times.

Day after tomorrow i.e. Sunday the 31st, I’d have completed my third week without smoking. Only twice I had dreams of smoking – both equally real until I woke up.

The temptations haven’t eased off. Every time someone lights a cigarette, I want to take a drag. I don’t want to ask for permission. I don’t see myself asking if I can borrow a cigarette, buy a cigarette or anything like that. It’s more like I smoke like I breathe – automaticcally. I can just see the hand (of that smoker) that goes down after a drag meeting my lips the next time it comes up. It’s that simple. The urge hasn’t gone down a bit – it’s still as big as the first day. Every time a cigarette is lit (around me), I have the urge to take “just-one-drag-before-I-quit-for-good”. Because inside I still know that a drag won’t make any difference, I still know that ONE drag can’t be all harmful. What I do not know is if I take this one drag, will I be able to stop myself from taking another – and if so for how long before the urge beats me?

By the time I figure out my answers to my questions, the cigarette would have long been stubbed dead.

Aftermath:
~ I have been getting easily agitated/ annoyed. I do not know if it is because I miss cigarettes. I have lost all patience. I work with children and this is really getting in my way.
~ I feel low all the time. I decided to fight my demons after missing out on Australian Open. I am trying hard not to think the way I’ve been thinking. I am fighting my demons. Still. I do not know now what is bringing me down – my thoughts or the factors that make me think these thoughts.
~ The voice inside keeps calling me a loser. I have always loved to argue (sometimes for argument sake) have been losing every argument. I listen to half the things and say out loud half of half of what I should have said. I cannot comprehend what I say and it is the same of what others have to say.
~ I have come back to square 1. I seem to have made the home-run, reached the highs, completed a loop to end up in square 1. So I am back to square 1. Hypersensitive, mood-swings, hyper-agitated. The 3 square 1s don’t take me to square 3. I end up where I’d begun. (I do not want to get back to smoking regardless of which square I end up in – I am sure/ I want to be sure of just this ONE thing for now)
~ UK is on his way home. I can write a whole book on this but I’ll resist the temptation here.

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To identify possible sensory impacts on behaviour we need to:

• Observe the behaviour
• Look at the possible effects of the seven senses
• Look at possible build up of different sensory information over time
e.g. a full school day
• Have a picture of individual’s sensory preferences and sensitivities
• Introduce sensory items or approaches that calm to help the
situation
• Modify your approach with your new understanding.

The checklist above is taken from a guide written by Falkirk council. Click here to download a really useful free PDF document for parents and carers called Making Sense of Sensory Behaviour. Although the guide is aimed at parents and carers, much of the advice is equally useful for teaching staff.

Here are some of the common causes of sensitive skin. Do any of these seem to fit your situation? If you’re not sure, get some help from a health professional and see what you can come up with.

Allergies are a very common cause for sensitive skin. Sometimes even food allergies can trigger skin outbreaks. If you think this may be the cause of your skin problems, you may find it helpful to get allergy testing.

Genetic factors also can play a role in sensitive skin. Do a lot of your family members have skin problems? Research has shown that fair skinned people tend to develop sensitive skin more often than people with darker complexions.

Poor digestion and food assimilation can play a role in developing sensitive skin. If you have difficulty digesting your food, not only are you not receiving as much nutrition as your body needs, but also the undigested food tends to create gas, bloating and inflammation in your digestive tract. This kind of inflammation can affect many other body systems including your skin.

Sluggish elimination can cause skin problems, as the toxins that need to leave the body aren’t able to be released through the digestive system, so they are more likely to erupt through the skin.

More help to follow in the next blog hope this helps and good luck – I know how frustrating it is!!