As a followup to the Self-Discovery Series on Personality, I’ll share that I identify as both an HSP & a Scanner.
I believe personality is our default way of responding to situations, but since that is always in flux,
For example, here’s a blog article I wrote years ago. But I’m sharing it here to see how clearly my brain works as an “achemist”. In _____ book he calls it Range.
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Unfinished:
The world of tech can teach us about ourselves! Who knew!? The technical jargon inside the tech industry is actually more universally applicable than you might expect. Being married to a techie for almost 20 years has helped me see more than a couple phrases from “my” world of personal development and human potential have overlapped with “his” world of computers.
There are at least 4 different concepts that I see have some application within personal development.
1 ) Backup only what you want to save; then restore!
Be nice if we could start from scratch, but truth is life has to keep on going. Few websites can’t just be totally down for maintance and survive. Instead they do this…______ So, Check in regularly with what your intentions are and what’s working for you and what’s not
2) Reboot. Anne Lamott phrase:
3) “Find & Replace”
4) Uninstall/Reload: about getting new TOOLS!
When you think about it, we humans operate based very similarly on the operating system we were equipped with as children. We face a new scenario and how we respond is pulled from pre-programmed, or “conditioned” responses that we have learned (either by seeing it, being explicitly taught it, or innately having a natural sense). As an HSP, I’m always looking for the universality, the commonality, the factors that bind us. Here it is the electrical circutry that both run on, artificial brains (computers) and biological brains.
I share this post to also show how “who we are” to also illustrate how we are usually not defined by one experience or one example set by someone in our upbringing. We humans are an amalgam of many experiences, many influences. And just because we are categorized as something doesn’t mean we need to IDENTIFY with that label. For example, I do not self-identify as Neurodivergent. Not yet anyway. Why? Because it feels constrictive to me, limiting. That feeling I can’t explain that sensation anymore than that. But it’s such a strong feeling that I cannot accept that label, although many in my highly-sensitive community of colleagues does see it as HSP = Neurodivergent.
While that feeling is enough for me to listen to my body and reject the label, I do have other reasons, more rational/logical ones I can try to articulate:
Reason #2: I hate labels, like I am principly opposed to them. They only serve to divide in most cases, not unify.
Reason #3: Because “neurodivergent” is not an identity it’s a classification, a category of many times of people and I don’t wish to call an Apple Tree a Deciduous tree because it. I guess that actually displays my most core trait, being an HSP since I love to be precise with my language. And why is that? To be best understood by others, and to best understand others for who *they* really are.
To be seen.
To have the best chance of really connecting with others.
Connection matters. Each of us matters.
Your unique experiences matter. Take the time to derive meaning from your experiences, and see what answers might be helpful to you as you ask yourself “Will I always let this define me?” “What will I let define me?” “To what extent will I allow the experiences of my past to impact my reactions and decisions now?” “Could I let that experience go? Could I let it stop dictating my current behavior as if it was still happening today?
I’ve asked these deep questions of myself. And journaled about them. And I hope you will too.
The unexamined life is not worth living.
want to keep being. And that is what this blog is all about, the fact that who we are is a CHOICE! It’s always re-writable. “Though we cannot ever go back and rewrite the beginning, we can write every page of our story here-after and creating any ending we choose.”
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