Embracing Intensity

I’ve been sitting with the best way to use my platform to share and support Black voices with the understanding that a lot of folks are exhausted right now and don’t need me jumping in their inbox. So instead of business as usual, I decided to share information about some podcasts with Black voices and highlight them. Starting with  a short clip with permission from Arianna Bradford of last week’s NYAM Project Podcast on Thoughts from a Black Mom. 

Below you will find links for podcasts and youtube channels you can listen to and support using their own descriptions from their pages. If they have a Patreon, I also included that link so you can also financially support them if you'd like. 

Alexandra Loves - Website and Podcast - Youtube Channel - Support her on Patreon

Helping you create what you want by being exactly who you are. Now offering Black Mentor Sessions designed to hold a space, help clear imbalances, and provide solution based guidance for those white people who want to work with her.

Arianna Bradford - The NYAM Project - Support her on Patreon

A weekly podcast consisting of anecdotes and interviews from everyday mothers and experts alike, highlighting real motherhood and questioning what we think we know about parenting and motherhood.

Andréa Ranae Johnson - A Call to Serve Podcast - Andréa Ranae’s Website - Support her on Patreon

If you have a vision for change in your communities or our world (or maybe you just know that a different reality is possible) and you want to show up, contribute, serve or generally live the kind of life that leaves this planet better than you found it – you’re in the right place.

Colin E Seale - thinkLaw Podcast  - thinkLaw Website

Critical Thinking is the most essential 21st century skill but it is still a luxury good. Only 1 out of 10 educators teach critical thinking, and this educator usually only teaches at elite schools or to the most elite students.

Gary Ware - Gary Ware on Youtube - Breakthrough Play Website

Jaiden Love - Jaiden Love on Youtube - Held and Heard Website

Leesa Renée Hall - Leesa’s Website - Podcasts featuring Leesa - Support her on Patreon

Exploring Bias One Field Trip at a Time. On her Patreon she is creating Inner Field Trips™ with writing prompts to help you unpack your biases around racism, in a supportive  environment.

Phyllis G. Williams & LaTricia Smith - Living the Principles Podcast

A podcast committed to relevant conversations about strengthening the Black Community.

René Brooks - Black Girl, Lost Keys Blog - Podcasts featuring René - Support her on Patreon

A blog that empowers black women with ADHD and shows them how to live well with the disorder.

Sharon Burton - Spark Your Creative Podcast

Spark Your Creative is a  company under the SJB Creative Ventures, LLC that  focuses on creativity coaching…for individuals initially who want to discover or reclaim their creative gifts.  

Zaakirah Nayyar - Living Legacy Podcast 

This week instead of sharing a new episode, I am participating in a Podcast Blackout protesting the deaths of the Black people slain by police violence or victims of hate crimes. I will share some links and resources below if you would like to do more work around anti-racism and don't know where to begin.

(This list is missing MANY names)

• Trayvon Martin age 17 2012
• Tamir Rice age 12 2014
• Eric Garner 2014
• Sandra Bland age 28 2015
• Freddie Gray age 25 2015
• Alton Sterling age 37 2016
• Philando Castile age 32 2016
• Botham Jean age 26 2018
• Atatiana Jefferso age 28 2019
• Ahmaud Arbery age 25 2020
• Doug Lewis age 39 2020
• Breonna Taylor age 26 2020
• George Floyd age 46 2020

Resources:

I have compiled and organized resources on this Pinterest page according to themes I’ve observed online in this Responding to White Supremacy Pinterest Board, feel free to send me other resources or topics to include.

A good start is to learn how to apologize when you inevitably do something wrong, this video from Franchesca Ramsey on Getting Called Out: How to Apologize is a good start.

Then read this article, White people, stop asking us to educate you about racism to understand why it is our responsibility as white people to educate ourselves and then pay BIPOC educators who specialize in this area to go deeper.

Educate yourself on being a better ally, some of these posts are a good start, and reading some of these books would be even better, and better yet pay anti racism educators for their trainings.

Then take action, these two posts are a good start: Want to do better, but aren’t sure where to start? Start here and 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice.

Today’s guest is someone I met through The Gifted Homeschooler Forum for which we both write. Through her experiences and those of her children, she’s become a champion for parents of “quirky children who don’t fit the mold.”

Kathleen Humble is an ADHD mom in Melbourne, Australia. She writes at Yellow Readis about gifted and twice-exceptional homeschooling. Her book, Gifted Myths, is available at The Gifted Homeschooler Forum Press. She’s been published in Victorian Writer, The Mighty, and Otherways magazine, and she was the recipient of the 2018 Writers Victoria Write-Ability Fellowship. In between writing and homeschooling her kids, Kathleen loves reading, sewing, and big cups of tea.

Show Highlights:

• As a long-time homeschooling mom of two twice-exceptional children, Kathleen is intensely passionate about helping parents with quirky children who don’t fit into the mold
• As a twice-exceptional person with ADHD, Kathleen can focus intensely on something to the point of not remembering to do anything else
• Growing up, she had trouble controlling her passions, but her intensity turned inward as she resorted to reading
• Being small and good at things made Kathleen an easy target for bullies in school
• One of the cultural factors that affected her intensity was learning that in Australia, standing out from others is not a great thing that’s not appreciated
• How intensity became an asset for Kathleen through performance and writing
• How Kathleen toned down and tuned out her intensity in high school when she deliberately stopped learning
• How Kathleen observed in school the behaviors that invited bullying
• Why Kathleen has to work against her intensity all the time
• How Kathleen learned to do “the pause,” a technique to physically break the intensity
• How Kathleen loves helping others, answering questions, exploring things, and empowering others
• How Kathleen harnesses the power of her intensity through “the pause,” medication, and therapy
• Kathleen’s system of “touch once” to keep track of tasks and remember names
• The best advice Kathleen ever received: “I’m OK. It’s going to be OK. Being you is OK. Being intense is OK.”
• Books that Kathleen recommends: Foundation by Isaac Asimov and NeuroTribes by Steve Silberman
• How Kathleen helps others use their fire for good by writing on her blog and people find the information they need

Resources:

Find Kathleen: Yellow Readis

Facebook: Yellow Readis

Twitter: @Yellow Readis

Pinterest: Yellow Readis

Gifted Myths by Kathleen Humble

Foundation by Isaac Asimov

NeuroTribes by Stever Silberman

Last week someone on Twitter tagged me in a post asking if I was familiar with the concept of over-excitability. It made me realize that many who follow my work around twice-exceptionality aren’t familiar with my early work which is founded on the concept of excitability. Excitability is the foundation of my work on the Embracing Intensity Podcast and Community.

Five years ago, I asked my community to help me come up with things that many of us had in common being highly excitable. I made an animated post on Buzzfeed, but I thought it was a good time to revisit the origins of my blog, and I finally figured out how to add GIFs to my own blog so I decided to revisit this post with animation on the blog, and share it here on the Podcast!

Highlights:

• 25 things only a highly excitable person would understand.
• Why Excitability can be your greatest power.
• How you can harness the power of your excitability. 

Links:

25 Things Only a Highly Excitable Person Would Understand (Animated)

Free Harnessing the Power of Your Intensity Workbook

Join the Embracing Intensity Community

Today’s show is a different one. I’m interviewing a 12-year-old with ADHD who is easily distracted. He hopes you will be, too.

It’s an extra special privilege to interview my son, Z. Jay Baxter, who just released an activity book for his 12th birthday. It’s called The Notebook of Mass Distraction: Boredom Busters for Busy Brains. He has also started a YouTube channel and would love for you to follow him there.

Show Highlights:

• Why Jay is intensely passionate about his time with friends
• Why chaos and destruction are Jay’s personal brand of intensity
• How Jay tends to get hyper-focused on something he’s interested in
• Why Jay needed to hide in his jacket during recess at school during a particularly rough time
• How Jay’s intensity got out of control in a situation at school three years ago
• How Jay uses his fire for good in hyper-focusing on one goal
• How medications and friends help Jay harness the power of his intensity for good
• How piano music and Harry Potter help Jay sleep
• Good advice that Jay has received: “Just because you hear something doesn’t mean it’s true.”
• Books recommended by Jay: the Warriors series by Erin Hunter and the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
• Jay’s Notebook of Mass Distraction and the responses he’s received to it (there will be more!)
• Final words from Jay: “Remember, we all need a bit of validation in our lives. Don’t compare yourself to others. Compare yourself to you.”

Resources:

Jay's Workshop Of Wonder

 Find Jay’s Workshop of Wonder on YouTube!

When we get caught up in our own thoughts, it can interfere with our ability to see things clearly. This week on Embracing Intensity I talk about types of thoughts that disrupt our objective observations.

In this episode: 

• Thoughts are how we make sense of the world around us.
• Judgements, labels and expectations reinforce our existing view. 
• Blame and all or nothing thinking places emphasis on being right or wrong. 

Links:

Embracing Intensity Community

Embracing Intensity Store

Support Embracing Intensity on Patreon

Aurora Remember on YouTube

Jay's Workshop of Wonder on YouTube

We all love that coworker who is filled with positive energy that spills over to everyone they touch. Certain people have a knack for celebrating the wins of others, and even though we all might want to be that person, it takes a specific mindset that most of us lack. It’s an incredible benefit when this person ends up in the field of education, where they can spend their days impacting the lives of students in positive ways.

Amy Campbell is a friend and colleague in my school district. As the 2020 Washington State Teacher of the Year, she is clearly gifted and intense, but she has now become a public figure who is a fierce advocate for her special education students.

Show Highlights:

• How Amy is intensely passionate about celebrating human success with her special education students who are moderately to profoundly impacted by their disabilities
• Amy’s personal brand of intensity involves profound anxiety around celebrations and wanting others to enjoy life to the fullest
• How her intensity made her feel different
• Culturally speaking, Amy had a lot of privilege as a white, middle-class woman who was uninhibited
• How she’s had to tone down her energy level that is more than most people, and how she “feels like the wrong person” at many times
• How we feel too intense in many leadership and gender roles
• How Amy uses her fire for good in having a positive presupposition about things and seeing her students with disabilities as assets and cause for celebration
• How Amy is a fierce advocate for inclusion
• How Amy harnesses the power of her intensity by understanding herself and having time for reflection
• How personal habits of organization and running help Amy
• How distance learning has affected Amy and the importance of her need for celebrations
• The best advice for Amy came from her principal, who told her that she should lead adults in the same ways she leads kids
• A recommended book: Fostering Resilient Learners by Kristin Souers
• Why Amy’s favorite part of her job is the way she believes that every person needs space for voice and choice’
• How Amy loves helping students learn to communicate their needs and wants
• Parting advice from Amy: “You are enough. You are amazing. You are great. Look for the joy in this world and have a positive disposition. If you can share that joy, then you’re doing good in the world.”

Resources:

Find Amy on Facebook or Twitter (@the_mrscampbell)

Check Amy out on YouTube

Fostering Resilient Learners by Kristin Souers

The last few weeks I dove deep into creative projects including updating a whole bunch of new shirts in my Threadless store, creating 8 new youtube animation videos, launching a workbook and helping my son launch his new activity book, the Notebook of Mass Distraction: Boredom Busters for Busy Brains. 

In this episode:

• Takeaways from letting myself dive deep into creativity mode.
• The importance of accessible content. 
• How you can support continued accessible content. 

Links:

Support my work on Patreon

Embracing Intensity Store

Jenelle Wooodlief's Self Care Revolution Community

Arianna Bradford's NYAM Project Podcast

Embracing Intensity Community

These last few weeks have been super intense. For those of us who are sensitive, we’ve either wanted to escape into a hole to heal or dive deep into creative projects, which is what I’ve been doing. I hope you’ve found the things that help you cope best in this time of uncertainty. My guest today has wisdom and insights that can help!

AmyLee Westervelt, of Gratitude & Glamour, is a life and business coach for empaths and highly sensitive people. We connected through a mutual friend, and I’m excited to introduce you to her today.

Show Highlights:

• Get to know AmyLee, a mom of five kids under eight years of age, who grew up in Boston and now lives in Savannah, Georgia
• Why AmyLee is passionate about helping people empower themselves to change their lives
• AmyLee’s personal brand of intensity is to put a lot of “oomph” in everything she does, always cultivating a deep connection with others
• Why AmyLee felt like a “little dancing bear” as a girl who was paraded around by a narcissistic parent
• Growing up in Boston, Amy was always different and always asked “too many questions”
• How AmyLee had to tone herself down and tune herself out from overanalyzing everything and being too dramatic
• How empaths overthink everything why someone does something
• How AmyLee tries to parent her kids according to each child’s energy instead of their gender
• When AmyLee’s intensity is out of control if she feels wronged by someone
• How AmyLee uses her fire for good and believes deeply in the abilities of people to be resilient
• How AmyLee had to reign in her ego and imposter syndrome to harness the power of her intensity
• The habits that help AmyLee are meditation, the motherhood experience and seeing life through her kids’ eyes, and being creative in crafting life’s experiences
• The best advice came from a life coach, who said, “If it’s not a hell yes, then it’s a NO.”
• Books that have helped AmyLee: The Secret by Rhonda Byrne and The Universe Has Your Back by Gabrielle Bernstein
• How AmyLee works as a life and business coach for empaths and highly sensitive people, teaching them to navigate, create healthy boundaries, and practice radical self-care

Resources:

Gratitude And Glamour

Gratitude And Glamour  Find AmyLee’s free ebook, The Empath Elixir

Find AmyLee Westervelt on Facebook

Visit The Unstoppable Empaths System for information on AmyLee’s new course, The Unstoppable Empath System

Find additional resources: Embracing Intensity Store and Embracing Intensity

This week on Embracing Intensity I discuss what I'm doing for self care in the chaos, and share some additional resources.

Highlights:

• Avoiding contaminated time.
• Staying connected.
• Finding time for what energizes you.
• Supporting self-care community

Links:

Gifted AND: A Story about Twice-Exceptionality - Animation of Colin Seale's story

Embracing Intensity Store

Notebook of Mass Distraction

Jenelle Woodlief's Radical Self Care Community Fundraiser