60 Octaves

Earlier this year I accidentally deleted the majority of this blog.

Now, I’m going to see if I can reconstruct the most compelling parts of the blog that touched me the most as an HSP.

Several years ago, while waiting at the doctor’s office for my appointment, I picked up a science magazine, and came across a fascinating article about astronomers, who were also musicians. They asked themselves, what kinds of sounds would come from the universe? The test was to find how many octaves they could find (I don’t recall if they were looking “geographically” anywhere in particular in the cosmos).

The results staggered me, touched my soul and propelled me into the heavens. And today, years later, any time I think about this, I find myself still experiencing the deep awe.

They found 60 octaves — below — middle — C.

Please read the above again, slowly. Did your universe tilt just a little, in pondering this? Mine did!

Because I was born with hearing loss, the practical part of life means I cannot easily hear many sounds the average person can. Nor I can I distinguish between similar sounding consonants (like “beet” and “bead”, for example) without the help of a lucid sentence, or a noise free environment. As an HSP, I am impacted by nature, and my human community. I rely on nature to restore my spirits, spiritually uplift me, and inspire me to strive for the highest. To not have as much access to the sounds of nature, pushes me to build the connection with the help of literature, meaningful conversations with others, quiet time in nature, or spiritual and meditative time.

As highly sensitive people, our nervous system can pick up more from our environments than it does with the average person’s body and emotions. We can savor textures, flavors, sounds with depth and richness. But with some cost: We are often overstimulated, overwhelmed, and burned out. Many times adding a routine of meditation, centering, connecting with others in a gentle and calming way, helps to pull all the fragments together into an inner peace and soothing refreshment to our energy systems. So depth adds richness and strains our nervous system.

That’s pretty deep. It goes for HSPs, too. And the journey is fun, frustrating and amazing.

Visit Dr. Elaine Aron’s website hsperson.com. Her newletter has many examples and stories for and about, being a highly sensitive person.

Puzzle Pieces

There are two common ways most of our callings get expressed in our lives: as a job, or as a volunteer vocation. Sometimes the work we would most love to do does NOT fit the mold of the life path we have been following, even if we think it does. Something is missing.

Perhaps you have noticed that I haven’t written on this blog in several years. My life went through major changes in location, lifestyle, and internal metamorphus. Some of it I fought, other parts were accepted with a resigned sigh, or grief. It took several years, but my inner and outer worlds have finally settled down. I can still hear bubblings coming from deeper places in my psyche, so I know there still may be more to come.

And I know that I’m “getting it” because the kinetic parts –my body– and my feelings, feel more insync. I’m coming through the portal now… I know the journey will be different, not perfect, but closer to the plan that feels hard wired inside.

If you want to be, live, thrive, doing your calling, expect the unexpected. Stay anchored with a spiritual life and allow yourself to grow. Want to grumble? Go ahead. I did. God will open doors, closets, cuboards, even passage ways into Oz. It’s all part of the process.

Enjoy life, be moved by it. This is part of the magic.