I think I have known this for a long time: I am a highly sensitive person.
The other day I was browsing Facebook as per usual and I came across this article by Wall Street Journal. It’s titled, Do You Cry Easily? You May be a ‘Highly Sensitive Person’. Seriously, I feel like this article is written for me.
I cry when watching almost every movie. I cried during the first five minutes of Up. I’m pretty sure I cried when watching the latest Avengers movie, although I don’t really remember during which part. I cry when reading stories, and every time my sister came home from her palliative care job, telling me about how that patient died and how the patient’s husband had, lovingly, created a pair necklace with ‘forever loving you’ engraved just before she passed away, I cried a river.
Even remembering the story brought a hint of tear to my eyes. Moving on.
I’m pretty sure if I work as a healthcare professional I wouldn’t be able to cope with it. I’m not sure if I can separate the emotional turmoil that’s happening.
Which means yes, I’m a highly sensitive person. My boyfriend can vouch for that.
Just last week, we were talking about pre-wedding videos and I showed him some videos that I really like. He was watching the videos while playing games on his iPad, and I snapped a bit (sorry, Hun). I feel that he was not paying enough attention to what I deemed important, and he was like, ‘I don’t understand why you cry over this. Did I do something wrong?’
(Maybe, maybe not. But moving on.)
And yes, I tend to dissect every single little thing in life. That’s why I’m a writer. I pay attention. I analyse. I think things over and over. I packed food for my sister for her pre-wedding photo shoots because she wouldn’t believe me when I said that she would starve halfway through it (and I was dead right on that). I’ve made ’52 Reasons Why I Love You’ card to my boyfriend. At times, I can see what makes one special; like she is the only one in the workplace who waters the plant, or something like that.
Which also can be translated as I get upset quicker. And deeper.
Probably I shouldn’t take things too seriously at times. Probably I should have not thought of the underlying message of every single action.
But I pride myself of being able to do it. Because I care. Because I wouldn’t mind getting an email from a friend or a reader saying that what I’ve written resonated with them. I wouldn’t mind at all.
So if you’re a highly sensitive person as well, celebrate it. It’s not (necessarily) a bad thing. I still cry my heart out in the cinema, mostly on my boyfriend’s shoulder (love you, Hun).
Of course, there’s a difference in being sensitive or simply being a pain in the ass. So make sure that you’re not on the latter wagon.
Photo by Noukka Signe, Creative Commons
