HSP Life in the Age of Covid-19

These are strange days in which we live!

Of course, I can only speak for myself, but I can't help but think that there are ways in which the current state of the world weighs heavily on us HSPs... if nothing else, simply because we tend to spend a lot of time "thinking about things."

From a personal angle, I have to admit that the "shelter-in-place" mandates and limited mobility has not exactly been a hardship around here. I tend to shelter-in-place anyway, and I go out as little as possible at the best of times. 

I have been using the past few months to catch up on a lot of reading and organizing around the house, and we found ourselves having the time to work extensively in our garden, and we grew a record amount of our own food, from our little patch of land. 

Those are definitely positives!

On the other hand, this thing the mental health profession is increasingly referring to as "Covid Fatigue" does feel like a very real thing.

It seems to be the result of the new reality that no matter what we do or think, we now "filter" pretty much every decision and action through the lens of being aware of the potential impact this "pandemic" has on what we find ourselves in the middle of.

Often, the effects are quite indirect. A letter to relatives in Europe suddenly taking two weeks to get there, rather than five days. Not being able to get certain things. One of your favorite stores being closed. The simple fact that grocery shopping often takes twice as long as it used to, because of all the preparations and precautions we now take. The realization that it has become unwise to do certain things.

At our house, we feel it more directly, as well. I make substantially most of my living from online sales, and — due to people feeling uncertain about their jobs and incomes — my income (which wasn't much to start with) has been slowly declining all year. 

The other mental/emotional "weight" I feel a lot comes from the simple realization that we really don't know how long this "thing" is going to be with us... and that leads to the next realization that there most likely will be no "return to normal." If there ever was a "normal" it's long gone, and all we can likely look forward to at this point is an entirely new paradigm for human existence. 

Not sure how I feel about that... because I find myself really struggling to visualize a positive outcome.

Meanwhile, the entire "energetic feel" of the greater world seems to have taken on a gray filter... reflected by the broader subtext of frustration, anxiety, despair and sadness so many people are experiencing, these days. And anger. There seem to be abnormally many public flareups of anger.

Here in the US, it's not made any "lighter" by the fact that we are running into the final weeks of a Presidential election campaign... something that often brings out the worst in people, even at the best of times!

I have never been big on "Rah-Rah Positivity Parties," particularly when there's no objective reason to have one. Meaning... that I have no great advice to offer on how to magically "feel better about everything." If anything, I'd encourage everyone to simply allow themselves to "feel their feels" honestly, rather than sticking your head in the sand and pretending everything is A-OK. 

Because, quite honestly, everything is not A-OK...

What has helped me most has been to do my best to not dwell excessively on things I have no control over. I try to direct my energies where I do have some influence: Getting long-postponed projects at home done, working on things I do enjoy — like my art, my photography and my writing — and making sure that I get outside. We HSPs benefit a lot from the healing power of nature, even if that "nature" is nothing more than sitting and looking at the flowers in our apartment complex grounds. 

In the meantime, stay safe and healthy, wherever you may be!

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I hope you enjoyed your visit here! HSP Notes has been published continuously since 2002, and I do this entirely as a "labor of love." However, if you feel that this site is of value to you, please consider becoming a "supporter" of HSP Notes, via my Patreon Art Account. Or support my creative endeavors by purchasing one of my hand painted stones — links in the right-hand column!

I have created a special $2 support level, being mindful that most HSPs are on a budget. Your contributions allow me the TIME to continue writing, rather than being forced to abandon the blog and use my writing time to pursue an additional outside job. Your consideration is greatly appreciated, and — as the idealist that I am — I believe the best way we can create a better world for all of us is to support each other's creative endeavors!

Writing a Book, After All These Years! (Deja-vu?)

If you have been following HSP Notes for some time, you might remember that I have periodically been toying with the idea of writing a book. As is the case with many great plans, so far it has been all talk and no action. 

One of the challenges for me is that I tend to have a fairly short attention span. Some would call it ADHD. Either way, whereas it is not hard for me to write hundreds and even thousands of blog posts and articles, the thought of actually sitting down and stringing together 75,000 cohesive words into a book feels daunting, terrifying and overwhelming. 

As I read these words I just wrote, it actually sounds a little strange even to me. After all, I probably write something on the order of 500,000 words a year in terms of blog posts and articles, across dozens of online venues.

But no mind. 

One of the things that was suggested to me by a friend — and this is actually a very good suggestion — is that instead of writing an entire book from scratch why not simply compile and update a series of my most popular and significant personal essays about life as an HSP and turn those into a book. 

Of course I have always had perfectly good excuses for not finding the time to do so! 

But here we are in the times of COVID-19, and I am spending more time at home than ever before, and it just seems like the right time to get this project on the road. Hey, I'm not getting any younger!

Oddly enough the impetus — which happened quite recently — was that our power went out one day. When our power came back on, our Internet was out. 

And it stayed out for five days.

It's remarkable how dependent some of us are on being online. Although I didn't exactly find myself having withdrawals, I realized that I have become very used to working on the computer. Granted, I make 90% of my living online... but even so. 

Anyway, one of the things I used those five days for was to organize all my writing files here on my desktop computer, and then getting started on this project of choosing the best of my HSP essays with an eye towards creating a book. 

Of course, some of these pieces — while still good and relevant — will need a facelift, having been written as far back as 2003. But at least the task feels less daunting, knowing that I already have "The Bones" writen!

I'm not making any promises as to when this will be done and in print However, with the annual NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) challenge right around the corner — it happens during the month of November every year — the timing seems fortuitous.

So, I'm off and running! So far, five (of maybe 25?) essays chosen and "cleaned up."

Stay tuned for more! If you'd like to support this project, please consider joining my Patreon appeal!

Thank you, and till the next one!

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I hope you enjoyed your visit here! HSP Notes has been published continuously since 2002, and I do this entirely as a "labor of love." However, if you feel that this site is of value to you, please consider becoming a "supporter" of HSP Notes, via my Patreon Art Account. Or support my creative endeavors by purchasing one of my hand painted stones — links in the right-hand column!

I have created a special $2 support level, being mindful that most HSPs are on a budget. Your contributions allow me the TIME to continue writing, rather than being forced to abandon the blog and use my writing time to pursue an additional outside job. Your consideration is greatly appreciated, and — as the idealist that I am — I believe the best way we can create a better world for all of us is to support each other's creative endeavors!