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Vibrating body
When Jenny looks out at the world, she doesn’t see objects alone. She also sees energy. What looks inert to most of us appears vibrant and kinetic to her. Weird? Au contraire. Physicists remind us that seemingly solid objects, when viewed at the level of the very tiny, are not solid at all, but composed of moving energy. We perceive rocks, buildings and people as solid and, for purposes of our survival, we should treat them as such. But there is more than one way to perceive so-called reality, and Jenny’s brain creates its own unique version.
“It’s hard to explain,” she told me. “When I look at a tree, I see a tree, just like you, but in the act of seeing it, I also sense its energy. I see movement as well as solidness, if that makes any sense.”
Jenny struggled to describe a kind of sensory experience that is too rich for words to capture. Fundamentally, her way of seeing, hearing and touching differs starkly from that of most humans.
“If I put my hand on a tree, I can feel its energy through my skin,” she reported. “It feels very alive to me.”
She looked at me for a few moments, assuming my silence was a sign of incredulity.
“You think I’m crazy,” she suggested.
“Not at all,” I replied. “I think you’re special. The crazy part only comes into play when either you or others decide you shouldn’t be who you are, that having an uncommon perceptual gift is pathological. That’s when it gets crazy.”
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Heightened Sensitivity
In my decades as a psychotherapist, I’ve met several dozen souls who, like Jenny, experience the world with a heightened sensitivity to the underlying energy that science tells us gives rise to the material realm. When first coming to terms with their abilities, many of these folks worry they are losing it mentally but, on examination, this usually stems from someone labeling their sensory acuity as abnormal or even hallucinatory. Another example of this, although not related to Jenny, is a capacity called “synesthesia,” in which one’s sensory perceptions cross over. It’s a neurological state wherein a person may hear colors or see sounds. Regardless, one of Jenny’s relatives told her she might have a mental illness and encouraged her to check it out. Hence our visit.
Now, we all know there are charlatans who claim to possess extrasensory powers allowing them to perceive and use spiritual energies of various sorts. Jenny, and those like her, are not among them. In fact, having suffered a fair amount of ridicule for her sensory acuity, she learned to share her gift with only a very few trusted people. Rather than flaunt her ability, she hid it.
For such folks, the greatest challenge is to accept and then honor being different. That’s a hill many of us climb in this world, albeit under a wide variety of circumstances. But the Jenny’s among us are sufficiently rare that they can easily feel alone in their struggle, making it all the harder to understand and accept themselves. For many of them, the best answer is to find a way to use their extraordinary capacities for good. Some become psychotherapists, energy practitioners and healers of various kinds. Many prove highly creative, immersing themselves in the arts and sciences, while others embrace deeply spiritual paths.
So, if you are different in how your senses perceive or react to the world, which can come in many guises, don’t be too quick to label yourself odd or abnormal, or to accept such labels when imposed by others. More often than not, how we define these idiosyncrasies determines whether they become a blessing or a curse.
As Yeats reminded us, “The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”
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