Should HSPs move to the countryside, the edge of the woods or a lake house to feel better?  Discover why escaping to the woods isn’t always the answer.

I had this desire too for the longest time…  I used to believe that if only I could move somewhere quiet — really quiet — I’d finally feel like myself again.
Somewhere near the woods, in a forest of pine trees, with a few neighbors nearby (but far enough away that I couldn’t hear or smell them). Yes, then I’d feel better.

Looking for the magical fix

Finally finding that dream place became my ultimate goal and every day I’d long for that magical fix.
Because surely, once I escaped all the noise, triggers, and energy drains, I’d get my energy back.
And my focus, joy, my mental clarity. I wouldn’t just be surviving anymore — I’d actually function like a normal person.

And I know I’m not alone.
If you’re a highly sensitive person (HSP), maybe you’ve had that same dream of finding a place of peace and stillness, where you can just be.
Not overstimulated. Not depleted. Not empty.

A place that fills you up, energizes you, and brings you the calm you so desperately crave.

Where you could – maybe for the first time – say, “Hey, I feel great!”.

Are You Creating Your Own Misery?

But here’s what I didn’t realize until recently:
I had started creating my own misery by turning that fantasy into a condition for happiness.
If it wasn’t 100% quiet with perfectly clean air, I couldn’t relax.
If those boxes weren’t ticked, I couldn’t create.
Couldn’t focus. Couldn’t feel good.

So even when things were quiet for a moment — I could barely enjoy it.  I’d tear up in relief as the stress and tension left my cramped up body.
But then the noise would return, traffic would rise again, I’d tense up again and… misery would follow.

I went for walks, listened to guided meditations and spent time in nature to get some relief.  It worked, but then I’d go back home and it would all come back within minutes.

I wore noise-canceling headphones. They helped — sort of.
But honestly, they’re probably made for introverts, not HSPs.
Because being highly sensitive isn’t just about sound — it’s about feeling everything more deeply.
What works for others often doesn’t work for us. We sense things on a whole different level. We hear more, like a dog or cat hears a lot more sounds than the average human.  We smell more, like the little canary bird they used to take into the mines to detect gas.  We feel more, like the tiniest shift in temperature that gives us a chill long before others sense it.

It’s not all bad.  We can smell flowers with the faintest scent, we can feel into how our pet is feeling and comfort them, we can hear the birds in the distance singing their song and it fills us up with joy.  But so often this amazing ability is covered in a negative experience.

And so we keep looking for a fix that will bring relief from too much for too long on too many levels.  And by doing so, we create our own misery.

The “If Only” Loop That Keeps Us Stuck

It can be hard to realize you’re stuck in a self-destructive loop.
Everything shifted when I realized that I was stuck in a loop — waiting for external conditions to shift and make me feel okay.
I had outsourced my happiness to the fantasy of a quieter life somewhere else.

It was a simple but deeply harmful formula: if my environment gets quiet, I can be happy.  If traffic stops, I can feel energized (and do all the things I want to).  Because my environment isn’t quiet enough, I will get tired and I won’t be able to do the things I want or should do.

Do you start to see how harmful this “if x then y” pattern is?  And how it is a self-fulfilling prophecy?  Because you give away your power to something you have no control over.  You can’t control your neighbors doing laundry (with their nauseating fabric softener that ruins the air for hours), you can’t stop them from talking, and you certainly can’t make everything and everyone be quiet all the time.  Unfortunately.  And so you may have thought about moving to the edge of the woods, the quiet outskirts of time or living in a cabin by the lake.

The Power of Small Tweaks

But what if the shift could start here?  By realizing that you’ve been creating your own misery with this if-then thinking and getting out of this loop.
With small tweaks. Tiny changes. Simple steps that make life a little softer, even if the world stays the same.

That’s why I created A Tweak Away — my little corner of the internet for people like us.
People who are done waiting. People who are ready to create change — one small tweak at a time.

👉🏼 You can grab 5 free tweaks here — and see how much of a difference tiny shifts can make.

Change Takes Time — Like Growing an Avocado Tree

Some tweaks offer instant relief. Others take time. Like growing an avocado plant.
You don’t see the sprout right away — but you prep the seed, give it water, let it sit in the dark…
And slowly, roots begin to grow.

Change can be like that, too.
It’s not always about doing more. Sometimes it’s about doing less — more intentionally.
Sometimes it’s about giving things time to germinate.  Other times it’s about tweaking your thinking and catching the loop you’ve created for yourself.

The Takeaway for HSPs in a Noisy World

And that’s really what I want to leave you with:
Even if you’re an HSP living in a less-than-perfect setting,
you don’t have to organize a big move or wait to feel better.

You can start small. You can tweak. You can grow.

Right where you are.  Definitely try out the free 5 tweaks, browse the blog and check out the shop.  Remember, it’s up to you to make the change, to take back control, to create your own happiness.  And maybe I’ve got just the thing to help you do it.