Nuance or nuisance?
When you consider the sorts of things it means to be an HSP, I wonder what jumps out at you about your own sensitivity?
What first caught my attention was ‘strong tendency to be aware of nuances in meaning”. “That’s me!”, I remember thinking.
And I couldn’t believe someone was writing about it as a positive thing. Because noticing and caring about nuances had often caused me problems.
Something in me has always registered the tiniest variation in a whole range of things. Meaning and response. Colours and shades. Sights and sounds. Arguments. Consequences. Temperature.
Even eye tests. My optician once told me I was affected by minute differences other patients never notice and eyewear manufacturers don’t cater for!
Hah, life often felt that way:
I’d comment on someone’s expression or demeanour and people would wonder what I was talking about.
Or try to find just the right word for what I was writing and be told it didn’t matter.
I’d ask questions or be concerned about consequences that others found tedious, irrelevant or unimportant.
Basically, my nuances were seen as a nuisance. And so was I. So to read about appreciation of nuances as a gift was validation of the loveliest kind.
Frankly, I wouldn’t change my nuance detector for the world. Nuances matter, whatever way you look at them – in communication, understanding, relationships and outcomes.
And I don’t want to lose the sheer joy degrees of subtlety and distinction bring me.
In fact, a friend told me recently she wishes she experienced life the way I do. Because she sees how tiny details and differences light me up.
If you’ve read this far, you might be interested in a thought-provoking article on “The Importance of Understanding, Seeking and Embracing Nuance in Our Lives and Our World”.
It reminds us that things are complex and nuance is real. And that seeing things as binary just leads to division.
So here’s to ‘delicate shadings’ in all their guises.
And here’s to whatever aspect of your sensitivity lights you up.
