If you identify with the majority of this list, you may be an HSP (Highly Sensitive Person):

1. You go to a coffee shop to get ‘work’ done, and instead you spend most of your time trying desperately to ignore the noisy espresso maker, heated gossip from nearby tables, and freezing air conditioner that you somehow manage to be positioned directly under, again.

2. It’s not uncommon for you to get headaches from strong odors — i.e. someone’s perfume, or that Starbucks smell that gets stuck on your sweater long after you leave — and often what you call ‘strong’ others perceive as mild, if they perceive it at all.

3. Excessive violence in a movie makes you cringe, as does excessive cursing in a standup routine. You prefer substance to a cheap thrill.

4. You REALLY enjoy the simple things in life, for example: hot showers, delicious home baked food, and slipping into freshly laundered warm sheets after said hot shower and delicious food. These simple pleasures create big waves of excitement.

5. You were an ‘early bloomer,’ in terms of learning what your body is capable of, i.e. you learned how to double-click your mouse long before your friends even knew theirs could be clicked at all.

6. Goosebumps. You get them easily and often.

7. You’ve been told that you’re “too serious” or that you “overthink everything” by people you’ve dated who weren’t interested in open, authentic, frequent communication.

8. You’ve also been called “shy” from a young age, a label you may have subconsciously agreed to wear or given yourself… even though you have a nagging suspicion that you aren’t actually shy at all. Sure, you may be quiet, preferring to take your time processing before expressing an opinion or taking an action. But, you aren’t afraid to take bold action, and you possess many extroverted qualities, too.

9. In school and work environments, you tend to avoid drama. Life is a pretty magical and wondrous thing, why fixate on he-said-she-said bullshit?

10. You place immense value on loyalty and trust. If you say you’re going to do something, you are. And once you put your trust in someone, you don’t question it (though it may take you quite a while to fully trust that someone). On the flip side, when someone close to you acts disloyally or breaks your trust, it is extremely hard for you to trust them again.

11. As excruciating as life can be sometimes, you prefer to feel the painful parts of being alive than not feel anything at all.

With courage, love, intensity, and HSP tendencies,

Kristen

Photo credit: jon madison / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND