How many times I have heard the words, “You are too sensitive!” Just last week I heard this comment again after explaining a reaction I had to weed spray my neighbors were using. I pull “weeds” along my road to appease the neighbors hoping they won’t spray poison on my forest property. Too late I pulled a set of “weeds” before realizing they had been sprayed with herbicide.
Despite rinsing my hands in a mud puddle right away I spent two weeks in agony trying to clear the toxin from my system. (I realized later the muddy water probably had the spray in it too.) The first two days were the worst with very swollen & painful knees, hand joints, and thyroid gland. My entire body - muscle, joints, bones, and organs hurt. Immediately, I wrote a letter to the road group letting them all know what happened. Several property owners were angry when I called the spray ‘poison.’
The family member I was explaining my experience to washed over the pain & suffering I went through told me, ‘Most people don’t react that way to the spray.’ She then proceeded to tell me, with a conquering attitude, how she had wiped out a set of weeds with the poison spray - completely missing the canary in the coal mine story.
This is the typical response when I tell someone about my reactions to foods, sprays, body products, or what-have-you. Ignoring, isolating the problem to me, gaslighting, or whitewashing the information into a non-issue.
For an eye-opening experience study product ingredients. Look them up on hazardous material guides. Be sure to look at government websites and “alternative” sites like wellnessmama.com by Katie Wells.
In the 2009 Scientific American article, Weed-Whacking Herbicide Proves Deadly to Human Cells, by Crystal Gammon, a French research team led by Gill-Eric Seraini realized that herbicides have not been studied completely with many ingredients not tested properly or at all.
“The authorizations for using these Roundup herbicides must now clearly be revised since their toxic effects depend on, and are multiplied by, other compounds used in the mixtures,” Seralini’s team wrote.
Inert ingredients are often less scrutinized than active pest-killing ingredients. Since specific herbicide formulations are protected as trade secrets, manufacturers aren’t required to publicly disclose them. Although Monsanto is the largest manufacturer of glyphosate-based herbicides, several other manufacturers sell similar herbicides with different inert ingredients.
Here is an example of chemical ingredient information from the website Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) of a common compound added to many items in use: Summary: Propylene glycol is a synthetic liquid substance that absorbs water. Propylene glycol is also used to make polyester compounds and as a base for deicing solutions. Propylene glycol is used by the chemical, food, and pharmaceutical industries as an antifreeze when leakage might lead to contact with food. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has classified propylene glycol as an additive that is “generally recognized as safe” for use in food. It is used to absorb extra water and maintain moisture in certain medicines, cosmetics, or food products. It is a solvent for food colors and flavors and in the paint and plastics industries. Propylene glycol is also used to create artificial smoke or fog used in fire-fighting training and in theatrical productions. Other names for propylene glycol are 1,2-dihydroxypropane, 1,2-propanediol, methyl glycol, and trimethyl glycol. Propylene glycol is a clear, colorless, slightly syrupy liquid at room temperature. It may exist in air in the vapor form, although propylene glycol must be heated or briskly shaken to produce a vapor. Propylene glycol is practically odorless and tasteless.
I am not in favor of a compound used as an antifreeze - toxic to dogs if they lick it up - being added to my food, medicines, or body products. It is important to thoroughly read each informational source. Many times the summary of a product or ingredient sounds like it is not toxic or barely toxic but upon deeper reading into an article I find charts that show the toxicity ratings of the ingredients that are quite often way more dangerous than the summary describes. Many studies disregard the fact that many compounds build up in our tissues over time - which is where the toxic load for a biological system shows up as disease.
It has been almost 20 years since I began unraveling what was causing my health decline. Sure, there was a lot of stress in my life. Life is stressful when we are unaware of what underlays the stress in our physical & emotional self. It can be stressful even when we are aware but at least we usually have a better idea of how to work with stressors. My research gave me a mini-medical degree in anatomy, biology, chemistry, and environmental factors. After my death experience in 2008 my “training” included the quantum field and understanding the spiritual life we are really living here on Earth.
Another area where my high sensitivity is in full force is interpersonal relationships. Way too many teachers at the school where I taught 6th graders bullied others. I was often on the receiving end or was very aware when bully tactics were directed at others. One comment I heard often when expressing my frustration with bullying treatment was, “You need to get a thicker skin.” The first time I heard this from another teacher was a shock. I have never understood why the expectation is that a person needs to get used to and deal with bullying behavior instead of the expectation that the bullies need to stop the poor behavior.
Coal miners have long taken a canary - a very sensitive bird - into the mines with them. When the small canary died the miners knew the air was foul and they needed to get out of the mine ASAP before they suffered the same fate as the bird.
The highly sensitive person is the Canary in the Coal Mine here to reveal the toxicity of our daily life and human social interactions that need to transform from bullying & insensitive ways to more compassionate & caring ways. My belief is that we are here to express more Divine Love and not to continually degenerate into vile, desensitized creatures.
I am a Canary in the Coal Mine, a hyper-sensitive person for a reason. Like the canary, I can not be in certain areas, be around certain people, or use certain products. I believe some of us, as highly sensitive people, are here to raise the alarm about our toxic world - toxic ingredients, toxic habits, toxic relationships, or toxic environments. And, through our own experience with healing ourselves, we are here to show others how to navigate from a toxic load into a life of wellness. Those who hear us have a chance to get out of the coal mine in time!
Are you a highly sensitive person? Have you discovered toxic chemicals in the foods and products we use? What are some things you have done to remove these ingredients from your life?
With Love & Blessing for your Life Journey, Kathy
A enlightening book to expand your knowledge of the use of weed spray: Beyond the War on Invasive Species by Tao Orion
Well written Kathy!! Most people I know invite and defend using these toxins on a daily basis! Fascinating😳!!!!!! And alarming😕😕😕!!!