The Highly Sensitives
I was listening to Thom Hartmann on Air America the other day and he related a study I found interesting. He was talking about the huge numbers of people in our society who now take anti-depression medication. One man's doctor had prescribed it for him to help him quit smoking, and he felt so good, he just kept on with it. Why don't we allow ourselves to feel "depressed"? One of my wise friends used to say that depression was biologically-induced meditation. There's always a good reason behind our emotional contractions. If we go into the density instead of taking a happy pill or dulling ourselves with alcohol, we can permanently dissolve the ideas we hold that are not in alignment with our soul's truth. And we can gain amazing insights. And then we get real joy.

The study showed that in a normal community of chimpanzees, a certain percentage — the same percentage as in humans — acted "depressed." The people doing the study then carefully removed the depressed animals from the group. Instead of becoming ebullient and upbeat, the chimp community created the exact same percentage of depressed animals again. It turns out that these community members are the highly sensitive ones, and they are responsible for keeping the rest of the group safe and alert. Among other things, they sense approaching danger and are the ones to scream out. I like the connection between being highly sensitive and seeming depressed compared to other more "normal," perhaps less aware members of society. Perhaps we need to re-examine the whole phenomenon of depression and view it with spiritual eyes and a mind that understands the subtle dynamics of energy and consciousness.