"During the Gathering, we will focus on needs, not approval," Jacquelyn Strickland tells us, and then goes on to explain that this means that if we want to get up and stretch, or just walk out, in the middle of a session it's OK, and we will not be "judged" for doing so. Then she moves on to the next point of the evening: Asking everyone to introduce themselves.
At first, people look nervously around. It is not easy for a group of predominately introverted HSPs to speak about themselves, especially before a room full of people. However, the initial awkwardness starts to melt away as soon as people realize that-- perhaps for the first time in their lives-- they are speaking in a completely "HSP safe" environment: an environment in which they don't have to "fake it," nor have to "explain and justify" themselves and their sensitivity. So, introductions are said, and personal journeys are shared.
The lives of HSPs are both similar and different, but it strikes me that the various life stories have a number of common threads. Most of us are on some kind of "personal journey;" and we have come to the Gathering both for fellowship and in search of ways to become more "functional" in the world while remaining true to ourselves. As more people speak, I feel a subtle shift in the atmosphere of the room, as a realization sets in: It really is safe to speak our minds, authentically within our feelings, without the usual "odd looks" and words of "get over yourself!" so many of us have grown used to, as a part of our lives.
As people grow more comfortable and find their voices, the stories grow more personal-- and very familiar to most present. Stories of "losing one's identity" to societal pressures and expectations. Stories of lives half-lived, while "not fitting in." Stories of feeling marginalized and invalidated; of feeling misunderstood, even by loved ones. And stories of feeling unable to cope-- in the words of one person: "I have made a career out of coping with life." Another speaks of not being heard, simply because not being loud: "People speak louder and faster and overwhelm my voice-- so I am not heard."
Among Most, there is a common curiosity: "I just wanted to see what it was like to be with a group of HSPs."
And in the course of this first evening, we learn a couple of things that will set the one for the rest of our time together: HSPs are not particularly "timely," and there just not going to be enough time to do everything. We have already spent so much time on introductions
that Jacquelyn is having to rearrange Friday's schedule of "Breakout Sessions." There is much to be said, when you have never had a forum in which to share. As we end the evening's proceedings, Jacquelyn predicts that by the end of the Gathering, we will very likely be talking and behaving like a group of extraverts.
