One of the earliest articles I wrote on Highly Sensitive Power was about HSP Gatherings. It’s now almost two years later and I’ll be attending one in a few months, right here on the little island in British Columbia where I live.

Jacquelyn Strickland, the mastermind behind the HSP Retreat Gatherings, hosted a Gathering here on Gabriola Island a few years ago, which I didn’t attend, but wanted to. Though I didn’t move to Gabriola Island to save on lodging costs during the Gathering, I’m definitely now in the right place at the right time. I’m enjoying helping Jacquelyn pull the details together, including plans for a hike I’ll lead through and around Drumbeg Provincial Park, which is just along the shore from the little bay I live on.

People come from all over to attend HSP Gatherings — they’re not only for whoever’s in the area. June in the Southern Gulf Islands of British Columbia is a prime vacation destination. Perhaps I’ll see you here then.

For more information, visit the June HSP Gathering info page on Jacquelyn’s website. Please let me or Jacquelyn know if you have any questions.

Photo taken from Drumbeg Provincial Park, Gabriola Island, BC, by Grace Kerina

Related reading: The Power of Community, HSP Gatherings

Denise thrives in her work as a professional communitarian (she’s inspired me to invent a new word), fostering connections as an event planner for Metzger Associates and the founder of ChicksWhoClick.net – a system of one-day networking conferences in different cities, to help people “Create. Connect. Collaborate.” on the topics of social networking, technology, and empowerment.

For information, including upcoming conference details, see the Chicks Who Click website. For inspiration and profiles, see the Chicks Who Click blog.

In what way are you most successfully sensitive?

With this current project – Chicks Who Click, being successfully sensitive has to do with being open-minded, inclusive, and energized. I’m enjoying building and facilitating an online community of like-minded women. Through our conferences we’re empowering, educating, and facilitating an important and lively conversation. It is hugely rewarding to watch an idea take shape just as I had envisioned it would. To witness a community collaborating and connecting in this space is completely encouraging and stimulating.

What or who has inspired you to embrace your sensitivity?

Becoming a mother and raising a son is a big contributor to me embracing my sensitivity. The caring and compassion that emerges with my children is like no other experience. When I have to stop and realize that I’m not the number one priority anymore and that someone is counting on me to be present and to be a role model, that definitely forces me to take a step back and think about putting my best foot forward.

What are your eternal fascinations?

Exploring the world through the colors, the people, and the cultures. It completely energizes me to see how other people live and to be able to contrast that with my life. Being able to incorporate customs, flavors, and aesthetics from other regions of the world is enthralling to me.

What quest currently captivates you?

Being whole and balanced, feeling comfortable in my skin, embracing my chronological progression, staying young at heart, constantly striving for intellectual challenge, opening my heart and giving back to my community.

What is your favourite kind of help to give?

I am a connector of people. I love to network and bring people together either through common interests or from complete opposite walks of life. It’s amazing how much we can all learn from each other.

Photo from Chicks Who Click site.

Related reading: Successfully Sensitive | Samantha Reynolds, WORK Is Not a Four-Letter Word

1. Take time to attend to your appearance so it doesn’t distract you during the party. It’s not about standing out. It’s about being comfortable. Do the basic primping. Be clean and shave all the appropriate bits. Wear an outfit that helps you relax because you know you look nice in it. Help yourself feel as easy with your body as you can at this time.
2. Pre-plan flexible exit strategies. Make arrangements that allow you to leave the party whenever you want to. On your own. Know the bus schedules or the taxi service’s phone number. Have enough bus or taxi money with you. Do whatever it takes. You can still leave the party with others, but if you have options you won’t feel cornered. Be free to go.
3. Take a prop. Having something to fiddle with can cover the moments when you can’t think of anything to say. One of the best props is a small digital camera. Use it with respect. If you take photos that flatter people or are artistic or funny-for-all, you can show the photos at the party if someone asks to see. Be creative about your prop. The goal is to deflect the focus from you and/or to give you something to fiddle with when you need a break.
4. Ask about what you want to know. You’re bright. You’re curious. You notice things others don’t. Use those qualities. Begin conversations you’re interested in having. Rather than wondering what will interest the person you’re talking to, tune in to what sparks your interest. You can even think about this before the party and arrive with leading questions. Be daring if you want – if that’s where your curiosity takes you – but also remember to be kind.
5. Leave before you lose it. Go when you feel good about yourself, before you feel too overwhelmed to recover during a trip to the washroom. Leave earlier than anyone else if that’s what you need to do. Be gracious with the host of the party. Slip away. Enjoy your success.

Flickr photo: Party time! / Tiempo de Fiestas, by pasotraspaso.

Related reading: Pep Talk | Chin Up, Book | One Small Step Can Change Your Life

The blog HSP Notes is written by a man name Peter. In his post “Connecting HSPs” (scroll down to read the post) he writes about the paradox of trying to connect socially cautious HSPs and highly recommends HSP get-togethers as a solution. He’s attended quite a few and found them to be very rewarding for himself and for other HSPs he knows. In fact, Peter’s been instrumental in starting a variety of HSP groups. For more of his thoughtful enthusiasm, see his blog (and his sidebar, a treasure trove of useful links).

“HSPs – in groups – are very ‘organic.’ What I mean by that, is that you can put 20 HSPs together, and they will have much more in common than merely being sensitive. In contrast, put 20 vintage car enthusiasts, or 20 people affiliated with a political party together, and odds are they’ll only have marginally more commonalities than any random group of people. It’s this organic nature of HSPs as peers that makes it so important for them to connect.”

~ Peter, “Reflections on the California HSP Gathering“

For further gatherings enthusiasm, see Marcia Norris’s article “Why HSPs Need to Gather” (from the August 2001 issue of Elaine Aron’s Comfort Zone newsletter).

Information about upcoming gatherings can be found on Jacquelyn Strickland’s HSP Gatherings page on her LifeWorks website. If you scroll down the Gatherings page, you’ll see photos and links to agenda details from past gatherings – useful for getting sneak peeks of the kinds of activities to be expected.

What do you think? Does the idea of attending an HSP gathering appeal, but simultaneously give you the heebie-jeebies? Well, then, let your curiosity take you by the hand and lead you. Explore possibilities. Go with a pal. Use some vacation time. Figure out how to make it happen. Take a chance. Find your people.

“What is a Community? The Latin word munus means ‘gift,’ as in ‘giving of one’s self to others.’ The word munere refers to something prized, precious, and worth defending. Whenever people develop an attitude of caring for the wellbeing of the whole, community is present….

“Whatever drives people to cooperate and collaborate in the first place is not quite as important as what makes them continue to associate. Resilient connections create viable and sustainable communities. Communities that succeed in making these connections tend to attract the attention of less-connected individuals, who may seek to join and add their resources, energy, and values.”

~ Albert Bates, The Post-Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook, from New Society Publishers