The teacher training workshop has been really fun this week. We have a wonderful trainer and a small group of teachers with a wide variety of experiences, so we've had several days of interesting discussions. Often the conversations carry right over to mealtime if we happen to sit together in the cafeteria.
I've known D. since I was 8 (when she was my orchestra conductor) and it's really a blast to be in class with her this week. We got talking about energy medicine last night during dinner because she's going to a couple of retreats this summer, and I was telling her how strange it was to be playing the Suzuki repertoire again. There are entire books that I dislike playing because they bring back bad childhood memories; I've always been extremely sensitive to other people's feelings (to the point where I don't know what my own feelings are), and anything my violin teacher was going through, I felt and internalized. Relearning the Suzuki repertoire and teaching it is like being in psychotherapy for me, as I retrain not only my body, but also my mind and mood and emotions when I play those pieces. Mind and body are so connected for me.
Today D. brought copies of an article on "highly sensitive people" to class. She also copied a quiz from Elaine Aron's The Highly Sensitive Person. Now I understand why my life is the way it is. The only question I answered "false" to was "I tend to be very sensitive to pain", but I'd change that to "I tend to be very sensitive to other people's pain." I am the one who cries for someone else when they can't. I've been told my entire life that I'm overreacting, that I'm too sensitive, and too hard on myself. Now it looks like I have some reading to do...