Saturday, 31 December 2011

A Friendly Defence.

For the benefit of those who didn’t read it, I got the following anonymous comment on a blog post last night:

Finally, when I was almost ready to give up .. worn out with your recent spate of whining .. finally you say something magical indicating that you do understand the importance of treasuring the special people who randomly come into our lives. You have a gift for writing. Get back to work.

This pleased me a lot because I like plain speaking and I appreciate the unpretentious eloquence of the statement. I would, however, like to make a small point.

Highly sensitive people get frequent build ups of emotional pressure. It comes with the territory and we have to find a way of dealing with it. Whining is simply the sound of excess pressure coming out of the release valve. Those who don’t let off that pressure are the more likely to buckle; the whiners are the ones who usually bounce back reasonably quickly. It’s how kids function, and I’m just a big kid at heart.

As for getting back to work, I don’t know to what the commenter is referring. The only work I feel driven to do, apart from the practical stuff, is following my instinct and the perceived needs of the moment. Sometimes it’s for my benefit, and sometimes for the benefit of others. Much of it involves writing, but not always. I wouldn’t know any other way to be.

Nevertheless: whoever you are, commenter, I thank you sincerely.

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