Or Investigations into Developing My Own Characterization, Part III
I’m still on this HSP kick that I talked about on Monday.
Elaine N. Aron, in her book The Highly Sensitive Person, suggests:
This greater awareness of the subtle [on the part of the Highly Sensitive Person] tends to make you more intuitive, which simply means picking up and working through information in a semiconscious or unconscious way. . . . This is that “sixth sense” people talk about.
That’s right, I have ESP. Sometimes.
This intuitive introvert stuff is probably why I am an INTJ in Myers-Briggs terminology. Introverted. Intuitive. Thinking. Judging. That is someone who is an introvert (duh) and intuitive (see above). It is also someone who values logic (thinking), which I might add is because I view it as “fair.”
Then everyone either uses judgment or perception. People who rely more heavily on a structured lifestyle use judgment, whereas people who rely on a flexible lifestyle rely more on perception.
I do like a structured lifestyle because otherwise I would be overwhelmed with new stimuli coming at me every day, and I couldn’t handle it. My body and my mind begin to shut down when they are inundated or, as Dr. Aron would describe, overly aroused.
Now that I think about it, maybe this is why I am rarely bored. The littlest thing can amuse me. Well, let me adjust that a bit.
Stick me in a room with nothing to do but listen (I am not an auditory learner) for hours on end, and I will start to go nuts. As a kid, this situation used to result in me “talking in class.” You know how that turns out. In first grade, I had to sit in the corner, and freshman year of college I got the lecture about how the professor didn’t care if I talked, but that the kid I was talking to was failing so I needed to take pity on him ;).
Recently, I was in a situation where I was stuck in a chair for hours, listening. So I counted bricks on the wall and calculated distances between objects using typical brick and mortar measurements. I memorized all the distances. This kept me busy for at least an hour. My mind worked like a computer, and that’s because I was the opposite of overly aroused, but actually leaning toward boredom, so my mind wasn’t overwhelmed, but working sharply.
Anyone need room dimensions and don’t have a tape measure handy?