We are celebrating our 4th anniversary, 101K downloads! At this rate, I’ll make 200K in ½ the time! Keep sharing and listening so the message of Embracing Intensity can spread to those who need it! 

For this week’s special episode, I asked audience and community members to share “What does Embracing Intensity mean to me?” I left it deliberately open ended, and got a wonderful variety of answers ranging from the meaning of the phrase, to the importance of the community.

In this episode:

• Celebrating intensity, and harnessing its power.
• Tuning in to the messages of our intense feelings. 
• Finding community that not only accepts, but appreciates your differences. 

Links:

Embracing Intensity Community

Leah K Walsh Coaching

Jeff's Peer Support Page

Tiffany's Lucy in the Sky: Therapy with a Pen

Mezclados Studio

Get your free Harnessing the Power of Your Intensity Workbook!

As this show airs, we’re reaching two important milestones. We hit the 100K downloads mark, which is thrilling in itself. We also are approaching the fourth anniversary of the Embracing Intensity podcast, which means we’ve been at this for quite a while now! Reach out to me at Aurora Remember and let me know what “embracing intensity” means to you. We will feature these in our upcoming anniversary show next week! For now, enjoy another informative show with my inspiring guest who I've been a fan of for quite some time.

Seth Perler’s life’s work has been dedicated to helping kids overcome executive functioning challenges so they can have great futures despite our outdated educational systems. Seth’s mission is to help compassionate and proactive parents, educators, and others who care about kids. He wants to give honest, practical, and unconventional approaches to helping complicated, struggling students without BS or misinformation. He wants to teach the world about executive function, which is at the root of student struggles. Seth’s vision is a day when we don’t need executive functioning coaches because education is wildly successful at empowering all students with everything they need to have happy, healthy, and successful lives.

Show Highlights:

• Why Seth is intensely passionate about helping struggling students and changing educators to understand these kids better

• How Seth grew up as a curious, free-spirited kid who loved animals and nature but never fit into “the box” in school

• How Seth was labeled as a lazy, irresponsible failure--and his “fire was squelched”

• How Seth became a teacher of gifted kids but soon became frustrated with the system

• How Seth’s personal brand of intensity loves nature and the environment and feels the suffering of other people, animals, and plants

• Why Seth hates to see kids struggle to be understood

• How Seth is intense with his sensory experiences and emotions

• How kids’ feelings are invalidated by cultural factors that teach them that acknowledging their feelings is not OK

• Why Seth had a hopeless and cynical attitude as a kid, knowing he was “not like the other kids”

• How Seth learned to escape by going into social settings to avoid being alone

• Why Seth felt trapped by his “darkness”

• How Seth lived in his problem until he found the tools to step into the solution

• How Seth uses his fire for good by teaching what he most needs to learn and using what he has struggled with to help others

• How Seth harnesses the power of his intensity through meditation, the #1 way he understands himself

• Seth’s advice to those who don’t think they can meditate

• How Seth helps kids learn to shine through new mindsets, systems, and routines

• Seth’s advice:

  • Focus on helping others with a heart and spirit of service

  • Meditate and have times of stillness

  • Learn to journal

  • Get in touch with your story to know what is BS and what is truth

Resources:

Connect with Seth:   Seth Perler  and Executive Function Summit  

Find Seth on YouTube and his podcast, Learn Smarter.

As I approach the 4th anniversary of the Embracing Intensity Podcast, I find myself and the podcast approaching a bunch of milestones in a short time! The biggest one being that I'm rapidly approaching the 100K download mark! 

In this episode:

• Help us reach 100K and enter to win an Embracing Intensity T-shirt!
• Exciting milestones for the podcast. 
• Updates on the Embracing Intensity Community for this year and next!
• Overview of my coaching and assessment process. 
• Other creative projects.
• Stay tuned next week for a great interview!

Links: 

Contact me to send a recording for our anniversary episode by answering "What does Embracing Intensity mean to me?" 

Embracing Intensity Community

Harnessing the Power of Your Intensity Workbook

For many people, discovering their giftedness can open many doors, but when it becomes the center of our identity it can close many as well. In this episode, I share my observations over the years in gifted communities on the journey to self-understanding.

In this episode:

• Stories of gifted discovery.
• Types of gifted communities I've observed.
• Times when focusing on gifted identity can be helpful, and when it can get in the way. 
• My assessment philosophy.
• Knowing the limitations of our assessment tools.
• Upcoming book announcement!

Links:

Free Harness the Power of Your Intensity Workbook

Embracing Intensity Community

My Year in Mensa Podcast

It’s always great to have a good friend visit with me on the show. Join me as I introduce you to my friend, Erika. She’s a ball of energy who focuses on positivity, generosity, and finding workable solutions to everyday problems. Join us!

Erika Laws is a recovering networker, positive thinker, and sales enthusiast. She loves people, self-development, and manifesting. Her goal is to be happy no matter what the circumstances and to put her own “oxygen mask” on before helping others. She has lots of life lived and lessons learned.

Show Highlights:

• Why Erika is intensely passionate about helping people, sales, and her unique form of “matchmaking”
• Why Erika is not too concerned about being diplomatic anymore, asking the tough questions, and being a “say it how I feel it” person
• Why Erika is a positive manipulator to help people to become better
• How Erika’s intensity kicked in when she became a single mom and had to channel her intensity toward getting things done and leading confidently
• How cultural factors influenced Erika growing up because she lived in a world without much diversity but found herself drawn to African-American friends, which isolated her from others
• How Erika’s acceptance of everyone helped her later in her sales career
• How Erika had to suppress her gender and act “more male” by holding back her emotion to succeed in her career
• How Erika’s intensity gets out of control often as she tries to underpromise and overdeliver to customers, which comes across as aggressive and hostile at times
• How Erika will go above and beyond to make sure people are taken care of; she’s an observant, forward-thinking, and solutions-based listener
• How emotional awareness helps Erika harness the power of her intensity
• How Erika follows a process using the acronym SELL in every interaction: show up, engage, listen, and lead
• The best advice Erika ever received came from Jack Canfield: “There are only two things you can change about a situation. Change how you feel about it or change the situation.”
• How Erika helps others see that they are valued, leads by example, and loves connecting people as a matchmaker to help them
• How Erika is committed to holding the line with her boundaries and how she expects to be treated
• Parting words from Erika: “Intensity can be good, but your greatest strength can be your biggest weakness. You have to channel that intensity for good and know when to dial it back. Choose wisely about who you surround yourself with, and choose those who appreciate and don’t just tolerate.”

Resources:

Find Erika on Facebook: Erika Laws or Impactful Sales Solutions

If you’re in the Vancouver, WA, area, go see Erika at Mattress Firm on Mill Plain Boulevard!

For many years I thought I needed more self control to help develop health habits that would help my chronic pain and fatigue, but I eventually came to realize that I was focusing on the wrong thing. Instead of self control, I needed to focus on self-regulation. Self control is about forcing yourself, while self-regulation is about helping yourself. 

In this episode:

• The difference between self control and self-regulation.
• With self control, the focus is often on deprivation and forcing yourself to do something.
• Willpower is a limited resource. 
• With self-regulation, the focus is on setting up tools, environment etc. to help facilitate behaviors you want to change.

Links:

Embracing Intensity Community

Upcoming Group Calls

Embracing Intensity Store

Free Workbook on Harnessing the Power of Your Intensity

Today’s show is about swimming against the current and going against the flow. Listen to learn more about focusing on what feels good at the gut level. 

Matt Zinman is a personal success trainer whose varied experiences as an entrepreneur, athlete, single parent, caretaker, consultant, and nonprofit founder drive him to be a difference-maker. His insights about self-discovery, relationships, mindfulness, and life enrichment led him to write Z-Isms: Insights to Live By and fulfill his goal to positively impact as many people as possible. In addition, Matt is CEO of The Internship Institute, which he established in 2007 to bridge the gap between education, active duty, and employment.

Show Highlights:

• As a Philly area native, Matt is passionate about ice hockey, entrepreneurship, internships, his nonprofit, and his book
• Matt’s inspiration for writing Z-Isms, which contains pearls of wisdom, wit, and insights
• Matt’s personal brand of intensity is channeled through ice hockey and his “relentlessly positive optimism”
• The relevance of earned confidence from what you’ve endured
• Since Matt contended with depression since his early teens, he had to learn how to take care of himself and notice his “mood scale”
• How he became the caretaker for his mom, who contracted HIV through a tainted blood transfusion, and he learned to convert intensity into gratitude
• The cultural factors that affected Matt, who was a Jewish kid in a Catholic high school
• How Matt learned to be an even-keeled person through years of staying in control
• How Matt felt his intensity get out of control as he lost his mom over time to HIV and dementia
• How Matt used his fire for good by pushing through in his career and swimming against the current
• How Matt harnessed the power of his intensity by paying attention to his anchors, like ice hockey, spontaneous connection to others, and positivity
• How Matt created rituals around mindfulness and gratitude
• The best advice Matt ever received was to trust himself and not overthink everything
• A book that helped Matt was Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
• How Matt helps others trust themselves and earn confidence, teaching them to take pride in yielding vs. always trying to win the fight
• Final words from Matt: “Have a positive impact on as many people as possible. Be proactive. Stay upbeat, and take care of yourself.”

Resources:

Find Matt and his tools and resources: www.z-isms.com  

Find Z-Isms on www.amazon.com.

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell  

We suffer not from lack, but from paralyzing abundance. Our vast array of interests make it difficult to choose just one thing and give it the attention to detail our idealistic standards feel it deserves. But Kazimierz Dabrowski says that dissatisfaction with oneself is actually a crucial step toward positive personality development. It is only useful though if it can be directed toward achieving your personal ideal through conscious action.

In this episode of Embracing Intensity, we’ll explore ways simplify your life so you have time to channel your energy in a positive direction.

In this episode:

• 4 ways to simplify your life. 
• Putting systems in place to make your life easier. 
• Focusing your energy on your own "zone of genius"

Links:

Embracing Intensity Community

Embracing Intensity Store

"Disruption in your life is an opportunity to play and it's helping you disrupt yourself on purpose as a way to bring out that curiosity and wonder when you're in a rut."

We wrapped up our Summer Camp Scavenger Hunt in the Embracing Intensity Community with a talk from Gary Ware on Finding Your Way Back to the Playground. 

In this episode:

• The importance of play.
• 7 paths to bring more play into your life. 
• The difference between childlike and childish.
• Facing your gremlins that tell you you can't do things. 
• Living life with childlike wonder, curiosity and enthusiasm.

Resources:

Executive Functioning Summit - Affiliate Link

Gwen Gordon Plays

Dr. Stuart Brown - Playcore

Jane McGonigal

The Nerdist Way

Harnessing the Power of Your Intensity Workbook

Embracing Intensity Community

Today’s show features a guest who approaches every day with creativity and humor. She’s a financial expert who embraces her intensity and has the answer to your money questions.

Lisa Brumm and I met a few years ago when she spoke at an event. She is an active member of my online community, so we regularly connect and meet at local networking events around the Portland area. Lisa’s company, My Financial Girlfriend, has offices in Portland and Los Angeles. Lisa offers a shame-free zone to help women with all areas of their finances and leave them with a newfound sense of hope and relief about money and life.

Show Highlights:

• Lisa’s intense passion around travel, the Pacific Northwest, family, and her business that educates and empowers women with financial literacy
• How Lisa’s personal brand of intensity stems from a bent toward humor and a voice that doesn’t hold back; her inner drive to make things better leads her to ask questions to bring perspective to a male-dominated profession
• How Lisa learned as a kid to use humor to deflect bullying
• Culturally, Lisa as a kid was “a rare bird,” a girl who loved math and science
• How Lisa’s parents encouraged her to use unique personal expression, but she learned to tone down her opinions and control her emotions to preserve friendships
• How Lisa uses her fire to lobby for consensus
• How parenting challenges with her two kids sometimes prompted her intensity to get out of control
• How Lisa dealt with the learning diversity in her family with creativity and acceptance
• How Lisa harnesses the power of her intensity by being persistent and tenacious and taking things at face value
• Why the division of work in Lisa’s household is a little unconventional
• The best advice Lisa ever received relates to raising kids; she learned to “Let them be” as far as exploring and figuring out the world
• A book to recommend: Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
• How Lisa helps others by giving people a safe, non-judgmental space to see what they haven’t seen before, especially as it relates to financial literacy
• Final words from Lisa: “Own your intensity, whatever it might be. There is room for everyone in this world.”

Resources:

My Financial Girlfriend

Find My Financial Girlfriend on Facebook and LinkedIn

Email: lisa@myfinancialgirlfriend.com 

I've been thinking a lot about play lately, but also feeling bad talking about play when there's so much going on in the world right now. In my interview last week with Jeff Harry, he reminded us that "there's nothing wrong with having multiple emotions at the same time," and that play can be used to help deal with challenging things and conversations. 

In this episode:

• The difference between play and toxic positivity.
• Play as a form of self-care.
• Why play isn't just something for kids.

Links:

Summer Camp Scavenger Hunt

Embracing Intensity Community

Harnessing the Power of Your Intensity Workbook

In the global pandemic, and everything else going on in the world today, there is every reason to be unhappy. Who decided that we grownups have to act our age and put playtime behind us? There are many benefits of playing like a kid, even through hard times--maybe especially in difficult times. So, when is the last time you played like a kid?

Jeff Harry shows individuals and companies how to tap into their true selves to feel their happiest and most fulfilled--all by playing. Jeff has worked with Google, Microsoft, Southwest Airlines, Adobe, the NFL, Amazon, and Facebook, helping their staff infuse more play into the day-to-day.

Show Highlights:

• How Jeff is intensely passionate about utilizing play to help people figure out who they are and how happy and joyful they were as kids
• How Jeff brings his passion to everything he does and loves to “nerd out” about any topic--along with his “fancy” bowtie that says he’s just there to have fun
• How Jeff didn’t always fit into his father’s box of “a time and a place for everything”
• Cultural factors that affected Jeff growing up as the child of first-generation immigrants include how he had to learn not to take things seriously and make play his armor
• How adults try to follow the correct way of living that ends up not being correct for them
• Why Jeff never felt like being “more” was a bad thing, and he actually regrets not being enough of himself because of fear and playing it safe
• How we allow our inner critic to control us and why we need to address it head-on
• How the flaws in our educational system tamp down and destroy genius in the classroom
• How Jeff uses play as a superpower to attack evil, disconnection, and shame
• How Jeff had to go through his own bullshit and identify his limiting beliefs
• Why Jeff doesn’t take things too seriously, practices being present in the moment, and uses his “play” lens to figure things out
• How Jeff helps others “come alive” and take a leap of faith and curiosity to reconnect with their “kidself”
• Final words from Jeff: “You’re alive for a reason. You have a variety of superpowers, and when you liberate yourself, you help others liberate themselves.”

Resources:

Rediscover Your Play

Find JeffHarryPlays on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter

The Power Manual by Cyndi Suarez

This week I had planned to talk about gifted kid burnout and how many of them may actually be twice-exceptional, but it was hot today and my brain was kind of mush so I decided to share part of my lesson on positive coping skills instead!

In this episode:

• Types of unproductive skills. 
• Having empathy for our coping skills, and understanding what needs they are trying to meet.
• Common elements in productive coping skills. 

Links:

Summer Camp Scavenger Hunt

Embracing Intensity Community

Embracing Intensity Store

Cosette “CoCo” Leary loves to live out loud. She’s a jubilant speaker, professional coach, author, and educator. CoCo has overcome a childhood of poverty and abuse, raised four children through hard work and painful decisions, and has gone from surviving on welfare benefits to earning her university degree in Public Administration, graduating with highest honors and serving as a staff member in both a senatorial and congressional office. Ms. Leary pulled herself out of poverty to show others how to do the same. She exists to breathe life back into improving communities, rekindling relationships across economic class lines, and empowering women.

Show Highlights:

• Why CoCo is intensely passionate about not accepting society’s rules for her and being empowered to challenge the status quo; her passion comes from growing up as a foster child who was pregnant with her first child at age 14, and had to go against the court system to keep her child and not be forced to terminate
• How CoCo determined to have a life worth living for her and her baby
• CoCo’s personal brand of intensity is absolute determination and a never-give-up attitude in going up against economic class systems
• Why CoCo knew she had to start with education to advance herself to help others
• How CoCo’s children watched her at work to better herself despite living in Section 8 housing and shopping at Goodwill
• How CoCo’s intensity was affected as she grew up by her loving father who gave her the gift of imagination but died when she was 12; a few years before his death, her parents divorced, and her mom remarried an abusive man
• How CoCo was beaten regularly and repeatedly ran away from home but was carried through those hard times by the self-love instilled into her by her father
• Why CoCo had difficulty expressing herself with language other than that of the “hood” where she grew up--until she found the local library
• How I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou changed CoCo’s life at age 12 when she lived in an orphanage
• After working in DC and then returning to Washington state, CoCo went through two years of homelessness even though she had a degree in Public Administration; no one would hire her
• How she started building her brand even while homeless and working as a CNA, living in a motel for several months
• Now, CoCo helps other low-income women build their brand and helps women entrepreneurs fall in love with themselves
• Why CoCo’s intensity never got out of control because her drive was mandatory for survival
• How her health suffered from diabetes, high blood pressure, and a stroke in 2018
• How CoCo uses her fire for good by encouraging others to use their fire and giving others permission to really see who they are
• Habits that helped CoCo harness the power of her intensity: “Being honest with myself, telling myself the truth, and realizing I need a good support system, and I need to be a support system for others.”
• Last words from CoCo: “Love yourself. Tell yourself, YES. Whatever you want to do for you, find a way to do it.”

Resources:

From Welfare to The White House

Find CoCo on Instagram: @welfare2whitehouse

From Welfare to the White House by Cosette Leary

I've seen some conversations recently about how being a Highly Sensitive Person can overlap with characteristics of specific disabilities & neurodiversities such as ADHD or Autism. There was some discussion of whether identifying as HSP might prevent or delay seeking a deeper underlying diagnosis and it got me thinking about how other traits such as multi potentiality and giftedness might also interfere with getting diagnosis and treatment.

In this episode:

• How in our attempt to avoid labels or pathologizing we might miss important treatment and supports.
• The impact of late or no diagnosis on self esteem. 
• Why we should look deeper if we feel a trait is having a negative impact on our lives. 

Links:

Embracing Intensity Community

Free Harnessing the Power of Your Intensity Workbook

Are you living the life you love? For most of us, that’s a complicated question that demands an even more complicated answer. To live our best lives, we have to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative---but that’s easier said than done. Join us as we discuss it all with today’s guest.

Dr. Raquel Muller is a psychologist, mom empowerment coach, and speaker. She is the founder of Joyful Imperfection Counseling, LLC, and the creator of The Woman System. Dr. Raquel harnesses the power of cognitive, behavioral, and mindfulness strategies to empower women to transform negative self-talk, let go of self-doubt and guilt, banish burnout and overwhelm, cultivate a greater self-love, and reconnect with their own greatness so they can create lives that they love while making a positive impact in their families and the world.

Show Highlights:

• Why Raquel is intensely passionate about supporting working moms in creating lives they love and letting go of the old notion of what a “good mom” should be
• Why having hopes, dreams, and human needs---and honoring those does not make a bad mom
• Raquel’s personal brand of intensity involves her radiant smile, boundless energy, and much passion
• How Raquel grew up in Panama as a “good daughter and student” who enjoyed the spotlight, having a mic, and sharing a message
• The cultural factors that affected Raquel as the oldest in her family who had many behavioral rules to follow
• How Raquel knew she was expected to be an example for her younger siblings and a proper example for others who saw her in public
• How her intensity got out of control during college when she lived away from home for the first time in a new culture that gave her more freedom
• How she started her business and was forced to learn new skills, grow, and get in touch with her dreams
• How she harnessed the power of her intensity by working with a coach and mentor around spiritual awareness, learning how to frame her fire and power to be more
• The personal habits that have helped Raquel are gratitude practice, meditation, listing daily wins, and having a vision for her life
• Good advice Raquel received was to listen to and honor her desires
• Books that Raquel recommends: The Science of Getting Rich by W. D. Wattles and The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks
• The empowerment that comes from investing in your growth
• How Raquel helps mompreneurs with big dreams by teaching them to listen to their desires, create a vision for their lives, and be great role models for their children
• Raquel’s favorite quote by Howard Thurman: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
• Parting advice from Raquel: “Create your vision and go for your dreams. Find the thing that brings you alive, and go do it.”

Resources:

Find Raquel’s website:  Joyful Imperfection Counseling

Email Raquel:  dr@doctorraquelmuller.com 

Find Raquel’s Facebook group: Redefining Supermom

The Science of Getting Rich by W. D. Wattles and

The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks

I've been behind on my workbooks and lessons as I wrapped up my school year, and now I'm catching up! This month's theme is on Creatively Meeting Your Own Needs and in this episode I'd like to talk a little about the concept of Emotional Liberation as described through Marshall Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication. 

In this episode:

• Why NVC can be a useful tool for self-exploration. 
• When NVC is not always applicable. 
• 4 Responses to negative or uncomfortable feedback or experiences.
• Taking ownership of our feelings to meet our own needs and the needs of others. 

Links:

Embracing Intensity Community

RSVP for our next group call!

Free Harnessing the Power of Your Intensity Workbook

Decolonizing Nonviolent Communication Book

I’m glad I’ve gotten to know today’s guest on the show. We’ve been following each other on Instagram, and I recently discovered that we’re in the same Facebook group. We’ve bonded over our work and service with twice-exceptional individuals, and we have much more in common, too. I’m excited to introduce you to her!

Boontarika Sripom is a therapy-influenced life coach for gifted and creative people. Her background includes school counseling, working in special education, and community mental health. As a life coach and sensitive person, she uses psychology and typology systems like Myers Briggs and enneagrams to help people empower themselves and reach their potential. Her favorite clients are creatives, gamers, and sensitive people who feel misunderstood. Boonie makes online content on Quora and YouTube. On Mixer, she streams video gaming while chatting with fellow gamers.

Show Highlights:

• How Boonie is intensely passionate about championing causes like world hunger, her connection to nature, art, kids with special needs, and video game culture
• Boonie’s connection to mental health advocacy and how she connects gamers and the geek community to therapists through the non-profit, Anxiety Gaming
• Boonie’s personal brand of intensity is to challenge “normal” and to pair with a greater cause
• Why Boonie believes that “injustice for one is injustice for all”
• How Boonie is messy and scattered at home but portrays a different picture in public
• How Boonie has an insatiable need to learn
• Growing up, Boonie misunderstood social cues, didn’t have many friends, and was naive and trusted people too much
• Why Boonie’s collectivist upbringing taught her that showing emotional pain is sign of weakness; she learned to be strong and push through any pain
• In Boonie’s first year of college, Boonie’s friend committed suicide, leaving her with PTSD; this experience intensified her mistrust that anyone could help her
• How she sought connection in emotionally-abusive relationships and kept losing herself and staying silent
• How Boonie’s intensity got out of control with her insatiable need to learn, and her compulsion to buy books and hoard them
• Why she had to honor her childhood playfulness and the needs that weren’t met
• How Boonie uses her fire for good in speaking, questioning things, uplifting others, and constructing spaces for connection
• A habit that helps Boonie harness the power of her intensity is to know the right people who accept and embrace her
• How she helps others with their archetypes and how they seek and process information
• Final words of advice from Boonie: “Everything you need is already there. Reclaim your voice and your identity.”

Resources:

Boonie’s website:  Organized Messes

Find Boontarika Sripom on YouTube, Instagram, and Quora

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

Helping you improve your business, relationships, and life…with play

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

Bringing More Love into the World By Teaching the Essentials of Gender Identity & Support.

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 

The Living Legacy Podcast features women of purpose sharing stories of resilience.

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