Guest blog post by Will and Diana Harper
On Sept 19, 2014, our Kickstarter supporters and a few private donors made it possible for us to start what has become the first feature film on HSPs. Two months later and thousands of miles; 15 cities; probably 50 planes, trains, and automobiles; and close to 40 interviews with scientists, experts, and real people from all walks of life, we are approaching our last production phase. Filming will take place between San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles and will include reenactments, signature stylized cinematography, and an interview with 7-time Grammy award winning singer Alanis Morissette. What a way to wrap up the production and 2014!
The network of res
earchers and scientists who study HSPs stretches across continents and cultures. For example, we were in Denmark with Paula Bohr, the granddaughter of Nobel Prize winner for atomic physics Niels Bohr; in Switzerland with Dr. Maya Braem, a highly sensitive researcher of veterinary medicine at Bern University; in Germany with Prof. Maike Andresen of Bamberg University, who incorporates the principals of high sensitivity in her business training; in NYC with Dr. Michael Pluess, who is known (along with Jay Belsky, one of our next interviews) for his breakthrough discovery of differential susceptibility; and in Washington DC with the world renowned Dr. Stephen Suomi, of the National Institute of Health, whose revolutionary study of highly sensitive rhesus monkeys significantly shaped the way we understand the trait. This is just the tip of the iceberg of the high quality material with which we will be able to work in making the film.
Will and Diana
I was/am very happy to hear about this movie being made. A few months ago I watched the trailer for the movie. I didn’t write in at the time but I’m guessing you had lots of comments. The narrator’s voice (and I think the music) made it sound like a horror film, not an intelligent documentary about highly sensitive people. I hope that’s been changed.
That is an amazing schedule you have set for yourself. Thank you for bringing our trait forward as positive and rewarding.
I wish there were more studies being done, I would volunteer!
Dear Will and Diana,
I am SO EXCITED!!! THAT I JUST CAN’T HIDE IT!!!
Thanks so much for the update and all the work you have invested in that huge project!
In the meanwhile I came to the clue that even in the world of football/soccer high-sensitivity does exist.
Please read the following article with the aspect on high-sensitivity:
http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2014/08/arsenal-mesut-ozil-silent-gunner.html
It is about the very famous German football player, world cup winner and playmaker Mesut Oezil, who is now being criticized very much…
It would be great if it is possible to mention in the film the fact that also in the sports area this trait can be found. A lot of harm can be avoided if he by himself, trainers, sport psychologists and other players, assistants, would know about this trait. Especially in this man’s world…
Cheers and all the best for cutting the movie,
Julia
Thank you for the update Will and Diana. I am so looking forward to the result of your good work. :)
I am so excited to learn about this documentary!!!! I am absolutely 100% a Highly Sensitive person and would be interested in being interviewed for the documentary!
I did not know about the film. Have been HSP and at workshops. I would be open to participating in any way to help educate the world.
Grateful to find this tonight. It was an interesting day and I am going to say goodnight. Feel deeply and love tenderly. Lonely and feel ashamed to admit it. Makes me feel like a failure.
Grateful to find this tonight. It was a challenging day with strong glue fumes that caused me to leave work early. Added Christmas lights tonight then experienced a sense of loss in my life for not living fully enough. I am hard on myselfay and I am going to say goodnight. Feel deeply and love tenderly. Lonely and feel ashamed to admit it.
THANK YOU for giving me such a huge AH-HA moment when I discovered your book on HSP. What an eye-opening experience. I’ve worked hard to ignore comments like “don’t be so sensitive” and do my best to let the tough stuff roll off my back. It’s not easy, but knowing there are others out there like me certainly helps!
I’m so eager to see the movie, or mini-series (hopefully), and share it with my family, friends, and husband. Over the 6 years we’ve known each other, he’s come to understand that my sensitivity is not like others’, it’s different. He has been such a blessing to me, accepting me for who I am, and not making me feel ashamed.
Best of luck with your production. All us HSP’s are waiting patiently!!!
P.S. Do you plan to have any workshops in the US? I’d LOVE to be a part of one.
It is possible I may not be crazy? Overstimulation is a big issue for me! My ability to manage people and recognize people for their individuality has been referenced as amazing, but my ability to deal with chaos ( my definition) that others find normal is impossible. Thanks for nurturing my addiction to hope that I am not crazy!!!
The idea of putting the HSP concept out into the world fills me with anxiety. My HSP-ness is a beautiful and very private part of myself that I like to keep hidden where it is safe from non-sensitive people. Many people will not understand the trait, and will misuse it or ridicule it. I am sure the filmmakers are motivated by good intentions, but the thought of this documentary feels like sacrilege to me.
Hello Elaine and team, this is great. May I say that in Spain actually a TV documentary (or rather a segment of a running program, ‘Crónicas’) offered insight into HSPs. It’s called “Sensibilidad al trasluz” (lit. ‘Holding Sensitivity Up To The Light’. It can be seen at http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/cronicas/cronicas-sensibilidad-trasluz/3017002/ although maybe it’s not watchable by viewers outside Spain. I would be happy to help translate captions of your documentary so that it may reach the Spanish-speaking world of HSPs, so please feel free to contact me at my post e-mail if interested. Many thanks for your work. – Nacho
As an HSP I have lived my life trying to explain to many people, especially my loved ones, of my special qualities. I was eager for people to understand why I was so different from them. The saying “stop being so sensitive” is engraved in my brain as the phrase that seemed to let people avoid dealing with my sensitivity. What they didn’t know was that I can’t stop being so sensitive because it is not a trait that