Posts by Goblin

I'm with you. I'm a HSP too. And one result is anxiety when ever I get overloaded with noise or crowds or frustration at trying to solve common problems and hitting obstacles. It is not pleasant. But every experience I've found has its positive and well as negative sides. For me, the positive is an ability to concentrate on issues very intensely and to pull up insights through intuition. I'm also quite introverted and tend to drift off into an inner realm where I get information from somewhere in pictures and dreams.

I deal with this by needing to spend a lot of my day in solitude. I need the alone time to recharge and calm down.

Thanks for this post, by the way. I am not a meditator now, but I've used that approach in the past to get grounded and stabilize my centeredness. It certainly helps. Now, I have other ways, including the ways Epicurus taught us about. Experience I found was a good way to learn how to live as well as philosophy.

I saw the following in a newsletter in my inbox this morning. Reminded me that I've been getting physical therapy for pain in my feet for the past six weeks. I was told by my podiatrist to wear cushioned shoes even in my own house . My feet have been very painful for some time. Plus to buy special shoes to cushion my steps.

I've discovered that I've been wearing shoes that contain my natural foot flexability for so long that I foot joints have frozen in place and I couldn't even move my toes up or down. Once I got my feet out of those rigid boots and business shoes, my toes and feet could flex and move naturally. Now, they are almost back to normal. Going barefoot on the earth is definitely like going back to my childhood. My feet love to feel the earth beneath them. Seems like nature is the answer and the doctor was wrong. Anyway, here is the news piece I thought was appropriate for this Forum:

The newest list of the world's happiest countries is out, and Finland has extended its streak at the head of the pack. Following Finland is Denmark at #2, and Iceland at #3. I was just in Iceland last week and can confirm they certainly know a thing or two about good living. At first glance, it seems like it would be a struggle -- after all, their isolated homeland is a frigid, cracking chunk of rock dotted with boiling geothermal cauldrons and looming volcanoes. All in all, a bit intimidating! But the Icelanders I met said their emphasis on simple living, and the simple pleasures therein, help them keep perspective. One man reminisced about his grandmother and grandfather, who lived in the seemingly barren wilds north of Reykjavik. In their time, a cow was a luxury, and the advent of indoor plumbing and electricity was so novel it was nearly amusing. And yet, he said, they knew what was important. Family. Nature. Community. Providing for themselves and others. Of course, there are many social and economic factors that affect happiness, many of which are far out of a single person's control. But it seems, at the heart of it, the basics of happiness are the same no matter where you go.

Well, I came up with Epicurus and Hume highest. There is, by the way, a second "philosophers' test with a different set of philosophers that get ranked. But at this point, that would probably be a waste of time!

Lots of other tests on that site that can describe all the things that are wrong with us. So enjoy!

Goblin

Hello, Much to learn but must take my time. I don't read as well as I used to. But glad to meet you.