Inner Reflections: Musings on being an Introvert, a Highly Sensitive Person, and a Gifted Adult
So what is this web site about, anyway?
This site is an experiment that combines one person's reflections on a 20-year personal "Journey to the Self" with a scattering of interests, fascinations, thoughts, research projects, hobbies, obsessions and musings. It's basically a "personal" web site, but it's my hope that it might also prove educational and informative to some of my fellow "self seekers."
The "Journey" part is represented by my ongoing interest in, and study of, the concepts of "Adult Giftedness," "Introversion," "Personality Typing" and being a "Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)." In an effort to keep this from becoming "yet another boring and dry psychology and self-help site," I have frequently relied on personal anecdotes about the ways in which these affect-- and interact with-- the basic daily process of living, through a mixture of words and images.
Why all the pictures? This is a rather information-intensive site. Given that the typical visitor is likely to be an HSP, or an Introvert, or both-- I am aware that it is easy to get overwhelmed by too much information. What's more, HSPs' and Introverts' learning style often follows a "read-process-reflect-read some more" pattern. The peaceful images are intended as a possible place to "rest your eyes" while thinking, or contemplating a concept or a passage of text.
When I started building this web site, I found myself pondering the question "Do we really need yet another guy's personal website to clutter up the Internet?"
I then came to the realization that I have learned as much-- if not more-- about myself and life from reading about other people's personal journeys, as I had from any textbook or "academic" site on the web. Someone once described me as a "reluctant teacher." Although-- at the time-- I felt myself to be neither reluctant, nor a teacher, I confess that this person perhaps had more insight than I gave them credit for.
These pages are both new and old. Fluid and static. Words and images. Logical and intuitive. They represent a snapshot of this moment, as well as the history that got me here. This is my ongoing journey.
In a strange sort of way, the history of this site also mimics my life: A jumble of disjointed fragments coming together to form a more integrated whole. You see, much of what is here comes from the eight "freebie" web pages I have had-- until fairly recently-- scattered about, some of them dating back as far as 1995. This is my effort to put it all together, at last.
Enjoy your exploration. If you take away just one insight, one piece of learning, one ounce of inner comfort, one tiny sense of new purpose-- then making this will have been worthwhile.
Recent additions:
July 2008: After a long absence and few updates, MANY sitewide changes have taken place, and new pages have been added. More updates in the works!
Have you ever been to a Gathering of HSPs? Attending the Gathering can be an extremely rewarding experience-- something I highly recommend to any HSP who's trying to understand and integrate their trait. What's it like to go to a Gathering? Read more in the Gathering photo journals: California 2003 and California 2007!
The 2008 California HSP Gathering took place on June 19-23, at Walker Creek Ranch; please see Jacquelyn Strickland's web site for more information about HSP Gatherings, and to register for the October 2008 East Coast Gathering!
The Pacific Northwest HSP Network is a new network site for HSPs living in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, British Columbia and Alaska. Semi-private site (most of network hidden to non-members, memberships limited to region) with focus on an "HSP safe environment."
