Embracing Intensity

Did you know that you could help somebody by just being honest and transparent about who and how you are? It's such a validating experience to know that somebody really gets you. Today's interview is with René Brooks. René's been a typical ADHD personality for as long as she can remember, losing keys, books, homework, and even her glasses sometimes when they were on her face! Although she was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of eleven, she never received any treatment for it until she was twenty-five. So her experience of learning that she had something real and that it could be worked with, started at that point. Listen in to find out what René has to share today, about growing up as a gifted person with ADHD.

René created a blog, Black Girl Lost Keys, with the intention of sharing the experience of receiving a diagnosis of ADHD later in life, while being part of a demographic that is still mostly skeptical about mental illness. ADHD and giftedness are not mutually exclusive, and many people don't realize that, so it was often hard for René to be understood while growing up. Listen in today to hear her talking about the ups and downs of her life growing up with ADHD, and how she channels her intensity, her fire, and her passions.

Show highlights:

• What's lacking in the world of neurodiversity.
• The similar experiences of people with ADHD within René's particular cultural dynamic.
• What René Remembers most vividly about being a gifted child.
• Being understood, and taken in context, has become more important to René than whether she's liked or not by someone.
• René discusses her ethical stance regarding politics, power, and the abuse of power.
• René has had to learn to pull herself back at times, as she can alienate people with her 'correctness'.
• Why René doesn't speak about the experiences of other people.
• What ally-ship in action really ought to look like.
• We tend to make things so much more complicated than we need to.
• René had a difficult time growing up as gifted, with ADHD.
• People often don't understand that giftedness and ADHD are not mutually exclusive.
• We really need to make space in the world for people who don't follow convention.
• The ridicule that can come from not conforming to cultural norms.
• The story of Henrietta Lacks.
• The way that black people have been exploited and made to suffer in the past by the medical community.
• More honesty and transparency in people would ultimately result in less suffering.

Links and Resources:

René on all social media: Black Girl Lost Keys

Black Girl Lost Keys Blog

ADHD Essentials Podcast

Books mentioned:

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot.

Far From The Tree, by Andrew Solomon

The book study with author Paula Prober of Your Rainforest Mind is coming up on the second Saturday in November. Get your copy of her book and join us for a great conversation and Q & A session. You can find out more on Patreon.

We live in a time that's being increasingly defined by activism and calls for social change. As gifted people, we're a part of this as well under the umbrella of the neurodiversity movement. In this talk, we'll take a short, powerful journey into the history, cultural systems, and real-life, everyday acts of activism that we call 'being different'. We'll define giftedness inside a new dimension- as an identity and culture, a unique way of sensing and experiencing the world. And you'll explore your own experiences and ideas to define your passion and priorities when it comes to social change for the gifted. You don't have to be an activist, a community organizer, or an influencer to fight for neurodiversity. You really just have to be yourself- authentically, resiliently, and prepared to speak-up for your needs.

Gifted Culture Project is the brainchild of Anamaria B Call. A gifted mom of two (and wife to a gifted engineer-slash-home-repair-hobbyist), she found herself one day faced with the daunting task of explaining to her son that he's gifted. With degrees and a background in linguistics and intercultural communication, she knew that she wanted to give him more than just a standard definition or even a simple story. She wanted him to understand his giftedness as a different way of experiencing the world. She also wanted him to have the social and emotional skills to handle and thrive in situations where being different is hard.

Join us for our October Embracing Intensity Group Call talk with Anamaria Call, and access the full video with discussion in our Patreon Community.

Anamaria has worked in public education and refugee resettlement where she spent more than eight years talking, training, and supporting people of different cultures (and different experiences of the world) to communicate effectively and to better understand each other.

She lives in Vancouver, Washington (in the metro Portland area) and spends her days raising two quirky, wonderful kiddos. She also reads, thinks, and writes A LOT while gently testing the limit on the number of books she's allowed to check-out from her local library.

You do want to do the very best for your children, right? And help them reach their full potential? At times we need some guidance with that, so today we are thrilled to welcome Julie Skolnick, the founder of With Understanding Comes Calm LLC, to the show. With Understanding Comes Calm passionately guides the parents of gifted and distractable children, mentors, 2E adults, advisers, educators, and professionals, on bringing out the best and raising self-esteem in their students and clients. Through raising her three twice-exceptional kids, Julie became intensely passionate about guiding parents and training teachers and clinicians to look at their caseload through a 2E lens. Listen in today to find out how Julie channels her particular brand of intensity.

Julie has a real passion for building self-esteem in 2E individuals. She is secretary to Maryland's Gifted And Talented Advisory Council. She is the Maryland liaison for supporting the emotional needs of the gifted (SENG), she reviews parenting strength conference proposals, and she's a committee member for the National Association For Gifted Children (NAGC). Julie serves as an adviser to  “The G Word” feature documentary, which is currently in production. Through the digital media division of With Understanding Comes Calm, Let's Talk To E, Julie is producing two days of 2E virtual conference. Julie is a frequent speaker and prolific writer. She produces a monthly newsletter called Gifted and Distractable. Join us today to find out what she has to share.

Show highlights:

• Julie explains what she is intensely passionate about.
• Julie explains what her personal brand of intensity is like.
• You shouldn't always have to turn your intensity down.
• Julie explains her intense connectivity.
• What growing up so intensely was like for Julie.
• Finding someone who really understands you.
• Hugs are really necessary.
• Some people suffer from sensory deprivation as a result of technology.
• Stay true to yourself and enjoy your life!
• About Julie's blog called 'Don't just do something, stand there'.
• Every moment can be a learning moment- and a moment for growth.
• Julie's whole life changed- and now she brings what she discovered to the world.
• What helps Julie harness the power of her intensity.
• The importance of positive self-talk.

Links:

Julie's website: With Understanding Comes Calm

You can subscribe to Julie's newsletter at the bottom of any page of her website.

Julie's email: [email protected] 

Julie's Two Days of 2E virtual conference is launching on Friday and Saturday, October 26th and 27th. After that, they will be on-demand through to April 2019.

Resources:

Book: 

Ross Green @ livesinthebalance.org

Lost at School

Blessing of a Skinned Knee

A Parents' Guide to Gifted Children

To Be Gifted and Learning Disabled by Sue Baum and Robin Shader

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

This week we celebrate Embracing Intensity's 100th episode! Join Aurora, past guests and audience members as they share, "What does Embracing Intensity mean to me?"

In this episode:

Xpress Your Power Store

Embracing Gifted Facebook Page

Embracing Intensity on Patreon

League of Excitable Women on Facebook

Would you like to make a difference? And help in transforming the world and making it a better place for everyone? Today we are really happy to have Andréa Ranae with us on the show and she's intensely passionate about social justice and liberation. Andrea is a vision led facilitator and coach, who firmly believes that together we rise. She has a program called Coaching As Activism, which she offers to people at a variety of different levels, in order to make it fully accessible to anyone who really needs it. Listen in today to find out what Andrea has to share about emotions, personal growth, and social transformation.

Andréa is deeply devoted to doing whatever she can to cultivate a world that works for everyone! To achieve this, she places her work at the intersections of personal growth, social justice, and conscious business. Andréa supports people through her Coaching As Activism program, and also by doing transformative work with them, to deepen their impact by looking critically at the way that their lives and work are connected to social change. Andrea is the co-founder of Whole Self Liberation and she offers practical tools, resources, and wisdom to people who are really committed to making change happen in their lives and communities. As a coach and consultant, Andréa works with entrepreneurs, businesses and organizations that want to be more inclusive and impactful through their approach to leadership, marketing, and company culture. Listen in today to find out more.

More in this episode:

Andréa explains what she is intensely passionate about and she describes her own, personal brand of intensity.

The effect that Andrea's intensity had on her while growing up.

Andréa learned ways to hold herself back, in order to make other people feel more comfortable with her and not worry about her, when she was growing up.

The cultural factors that affected the way that Andrea could express herself while growing up.

Andréa found it really difficult to deal with her anger.

Andréa felt that she had to tone herself down for most of her teenage years.

A time in college when Andréa's emotional intensity got out of control.

The way that Andréa uses her fire for good.

When the pain of being black in America really sank in for Andrea and caused her to deeply examine grief.

The collective pain that we all share as humans.

The disservice that we pay ourselves by avoiding our feelings.

Why Andréa is so passionate about the work she does.

Overwhelming feelings and powerlessness about what's going on in the world.

Figuring out what you have to contribute.

Harnessing the power of her intensity has allowed Andrea to show up more sustainably.

Being okay with being yourself.

About Andréa's Coaching As Activism program.

Resources:

Books mentioned on the show:

The Alchemist, by Paolo Coelho

Links:

Andréa's website: Andrea Ranae

Look out for our 100th episode next week where we will be sharing some recordings from our past guests and audience, answering the question "What does embracing intensity mean to you?". If you'd like to be on the podcast, please send a recording of your response to Aurora before Friday, October 5th. You can email Aurora at [email protected].

This week, I have the pleasure to share the presentation that Benita J. shared at the SENG conference! 

How Old Am I Really? A Meditation on Asynchronous Development

The purpose of this presentation is to bring awareness to the personal and professional impacts of asynchronous development in a gifted adult who remained unidentified throughout childhood. This presentation may be useful for gifted adults who are struggling to function in the work environment and may be battling issues like burnout, exhaustion, and depression. My hope is to encourage gifted adults embrace their giftedness and celebrate their multi-potentiality as they strive toward authenticity and career fulfillment.

In this episode:

• What exactly is asynchronous development?
• How does it impact you?
• What strategies help use your strengths and fill in the gaps?

Resources:

Presentation Handout

Find Your Superpower

The Gifted Adult: A Revolutionary Guide for Liberating Everyday Genius by Mary-Elaine Jacobsen

How would you like to see the world becoming a more loving, caring, and sensitive place? Today we are very happy to have  Dr. Dan Peters, a really warm-hearted humanitarian, with us on the show. Dr. Dan has a  rich history of achievements throughout his life and he is driven to help others achieve as much as possible in their lives too! He is a co-founder of Parent Footprints, an online, interactive, parent training community, with their goal to make the world a more loving and compassionate place- one parent and one child at a time. Aurora first met Dr. Dan at a SENG (Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted) conference a few years ago. She later started following his Summit Center newsletter, and then more recently, his Parent Footprint podcast. Listen in to find out what he has to share on the show today.

Dr. Dan is a licensed psychologist and the co-founder and executive director of The Summit Centre, which specializes in the assessment and treatment of children, adolescents, and families, with a special emphasis on gifted and twice-exceptional individuals. He has authored the Make Your Worrier A Warrior series and has also co-authored Raising Creative Kids. He is a frequent contributor to both the Huffington Post and Psychology Today. Dr. Dan won an award at the SENG conference this past summer. Listen in today, to find out more!

More in this episode:

• Dan explains what he is intensely passionate about.
• What Dr. Dan's own, personal brand of intensity is like, for him.
• How his intensity affected him while growing up.
• Talking with kids about their superpowers.
• Some cultural factors that could have affected his expression.
• The times that Dr.Dan needs to tone himself down or tune himself out.
• A time that Dr. Dan's intense sensitivity felt really out of control.
• The way that he uses his fire for good.
• Always having his goal in mind.
• Dan's strengths and challenges in his executive functioning.
• The best advice that Dr. Dan ever received.
• Some personal habits that help Dr. Dan to use his fire in a positive way.
• The books that have had the most influence on him.
• How Dr. Dan helps others to use their fire.

Resources:

Books mentioned in the show:

Make Your Worrier A Warrior series by Dr. Dan Peters

Raising Creative Kids by Daniel Peters and Susan Daniels

The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck

The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield

The Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman

The Power of Now by Eckhardt Tolle

I Can See Clearly Now by Wayne Dwyer

Links:

Dr. Dan's website: Dr. Dan Peters

Parent Footprint website: Parent Footprint

Summit Center website: Summit Center

Have you ever heard the term twice-exceptional? In this episode of Embracing Intensity, I share what it means and why it's important. 

Including:

• My own story of twice-exceptionality. 
• Why twice-exceptional people often don't get identified. 
• What happens when some skills are super high and others are "average."
• When difficult things seem easy, yet easy things can be really hard. 

Kimberly Berry is originally from California and is the host of the Being Unnormal Podcast which focuses on mental health, especially children’s mental health. She is also very passionate about child hunger and poverty and Kimberly wants to educate and help people seek the help they need. Kimberly believes that there currently remains such a stigma that it prevents people from seeking help from a professional. Kimberly is responsible for the “Summer Lunch Program,” she founded “Holiday Hope,” and is the director of the “Adolescent Mental Health Summit” which will target parents and educate them on issues that are affecting our youth.

Show Highlights:

• Kimberly shares her personal brand of intensity
• Factors that intensity affected Kimberly while growing up
• How Kimberly tones down or tunes out
• Kimberly describes ways her intensity could feel out of control in the past.
• Kimberly shares a personal story about her daughter’s attempt at suicide and how she dealt with it
• How she uses her fire for good
• What has helped Kimberly harness the power of her intensity
• Kimberly shares her personal habits that really fuel her intensity

Resources Mentioned in the Show:

Podcast  on iTunes

@Beingunnormal on Facebook

@Beingunnormal on Instagram

Scream Free Parenting, by Hal Edward Runkel

The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz

The Gifts of Imperfection, by Brené Brown

The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg

The Tony Robbins Podcast

On this week's episode of Embracing Intensity, I'm sharing my talk from the SENG (Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted) conference in San Diego on The Embracing Intensity Journey

I share insights gained from interviewing gifted and outside the box thinkers on my Embracing Intensity Podcast including overarching themes and what tools and habits have helped them to use their fire in a positive way. The participants will then have the opportunity to share their practices that have helped embrace their own intensity.

Get access to the full talk with discussion on Patreon!

In this episode:

• Childhood Sensitivity
• Messages of "too much"
• Toning Down & Tuning Out
• Living Within The Lines
• Catalyst
• Using your fire for good!

Links:

Patreon

Talk Slides