“We don't want to simply bounce back, we want to bounce forward.” This week, on Embracing Intensity, Silver Huang shares her wisdom on the topic of resilience. As both a profoundly gifted and autistic individual, her perspective is simultaneously unique and universal. She lays out concepts that can be hard to grasp in a very tangible and actionable way. Plus, she’s just really fun to listen to!
In this talk, Silver will share:
Working definitions of adversity, resilience, and adaptability.
The importance of perspective.
How shifting our respective can change outcomes.
6 practical templates to help shift your perspective and improve outcomes.
Links:
This week on Embracing Intensity, I'm sharing the first lesson of my Ignite Your Power Course. In this lesson, we will observe our own powers, get clear on how to harness them and develop a “power toolkit” to help harness them more. You can find the full group discussion and other materials related to the lesson in the Embracing Intensity Community!
In this episode, I discuss:
Links:
How do you think it feels to feel stifled and suppressed your whole life, always being told what to say and what to do? It doesn’t sound like a fulfilling way to live, does it? It’s especially difficult for someone with intensity, unable to express their thoughts and words. Today’s show tells the inside story.
Abbi Wood loves words and having fun with language. Perhaps this love stems from the fact that her words were suppressed for so long. She now loves the growth and evolution of words, and how new words emerge and old words become redundant, faster than you can say---redundant! As a kid, Abbi dreamed of getting a Ph. D. in the English language, and now she has more than 20 years under her belt working with words. She has a double degree in math and computer sciences because her family convinced her that making a living as a writer was an impossibility. A challenger by nature, Abbi fought against so-called “truths” her entire life. As a woman and a person of color, she heard more than her fair share of what to do and what to say in the world, and she’s learned to take what she hears with a grain of salt. She’s also learned how to think for herself and make up her own mind. Join us as we jump into Abbi’s story and her intensity.
Show HIghlights:
Resources:
The Age of Overwhelm by Laura van Dernoot
How does it feel to identify as broken and immensely different from all those around you? If these feelings continue and compound, then one ends up feeling mentally ill---doomed to be always on the outside of normal.
Chris Wells joins us today from The Gifted Development Center in Westminster, CO. We met at the SENG conference, and then Chris’ name came up again in a conversation with Kate Arms, our guest from Episode 93. Chris has the knowledge and in-depth experience on the topic of positive disintegration. Her story is amazing--and you don’t want to miss it!
Something new we’re doing here in the Embracing Intensity community is profiling different members of the community to share who we are, what we’ve figured out, and how we can get to know and understand each other better. I’m giving you a sneak peek of my interview with Javon Fernanders, and you can find out more when you join us at Embracing Intensity.
Show Highlights:
Resources:
We are super excited to have Heather Boorman, of the Fringy Bit Podcast, share her talk on Self-Compassion from the SENG (Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted) conference last summer!
Self-Compassion has been proven to be an effective mindset and intervention toward more sustainable mental health and self-concept. This presentation will apply the work of Dr. Kristin Neff in the field of self-compassion to the gifted population and typical struggles faced by many gifted individuals. In particular, we will consider how Dabrowski’s super-stimulabilities and other typical psychosocial traits can lead to perfectionism, imposter syndrome, self-judgment, low frustration tolerance, depression, and anxiety. We will consider the ways in which society’s responses to giftedness and emphasis on self-esteem can also contribute to un-wellness in gifted children, youth, and adults. Self-compassion will then be defined and defended as an effective intervention toward increased wellness. Attendees will be introduced to, and participate in, exercises to increase self-compassion. The session will be a blend of lecture and interactive.
Learning Objectives:
About the Author:
Heather Boorman lives an intensely joy-filled and full life as a homeschooling mom to 3 fringy kids and the executive director and therapist with Boorman Counseling. She passionately advocates for differently wired kids and adults through her work as a national speaker, writer & podcaster at The Fringy Bit. Heather’s also the author of The Gifted Kids Workbook, which provides mindfulness-based activities to help kids reduce stress, balance emotions, and build confidence.
About Embracing Intensity Group Calls:
Each month on the second Saturday, we will have a guest speaker dive into a topic they love followed by a discussion with the group. The talk will be shared on the podcast, but the discussion will only be shared with Embracing Intensity community members and patrons. The calls will be on the Zoom platform, which allows you to interact at whatever level you'd like (video, audio or use photo and chat box). There will be an opportunity for further discussion in the Embracing Intensity Community.
Links:
Are you a humanitarian? Today's episode is with Jaiden Love, a healer, educator, and humanitarian and the author of the book Saving My Life. Jaiden is a very spiritual person who has been passionate about serving and helping others for all of his life. He has been running his own business for the last ten years, and although it has continually morphed and changed over this time, it has always been about helping people to live their truth. Listen in today to find out about Jaiden and the way that he helps people to become the very best version of themselves.
Jaiden has a really huge heart and wonderful energy that radiates right through the screen and microphone. As a healer, he is passionate about helping others to do their own inner work, so that they can learn to live their truth and their happiest life. As an educator, Jaiden strives to give people the tools to treat others with more compassion and respect. The combination of the two allows him to create and hold a safe space for people to reach the ultimate goal of greater connectedness and love in the world. Listen in to find out what Jaiden has to share in today's episode.
Show highlights:
Links:
Jaiden's website: Held And Heard
Jaiden's email: jaiden@heldandheard.com
Jaiden's phone number: 503 757 1454
Jaiden is on Linkedin
To receive a 45-minute free consultation from Jaiden, contact him and tell him that you listened to this podcast.
Resources:
Books:
Saving My Life by Jaden Jemel Love
The Disappearance of the Universe by Gary Renard
The Abundance Book by John Randolf Price
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
Our Find Your Power Zone Tool-kit Challenge starts on the 14th of January, as a way to kick off the growth of our new Embracing Intensity Community. Go to Embracing Intensity to find out more about the challenge and about our new community.
I'm back after my month off! I was supposed to be resting and taking a break, but last week I had some divine inspiration for the direction of the year to come!
In this episode:
Links:
I'm taking the month of December off! Stay tuned in the new year for our awesome upcoming monthly group calls! And feel free to binge listen and share past episodes - there are a bunch of good ones to choose from!
Are you a gifted adult? if so, are you putting your intellectual gifts to good use? Today we're super thrilled to be talking to Alexis P. Morgan. Alexis fills her time and earns her keep as a writer, artist, and troublemaking socialite. She does all of this as the proprietress of her blog, Death, Sex, and Taxes. Alexis is a truly remarkable person who has really shared so much of herself in her work, and in her powerful writing about her navigations as a gifted adult. Listen in today to find out what Alexis has to share about finding balance, as a gifted adult.
Black, leftist, and glorious, twenty-seven-year-old Alexis lives each day in the spirit of her devotion to truth, justice, and liberation. She particularly enjoys taking an ax to capitalism and oppressive fuckshit. She also loves spinning and telling tales about the universe and its many wonders. And oversharing about her own ongoing inner monologues. Listen in to find out what Alexis has to say about dealing with the challenges of having an overactive brain and really intense emotions.
Show highlights:
Your Power Word Challenge for 2019:
Starting this week, we are going to go through a variety of exploration questions to discover the word for you to embody in 2019.
Links and resources:
Alexis's website: Death Sex And Taxes
Alexis on Facebook: Alexis P. Morgan
Book: Your Rainforest Mind by Paula Plover
Your Rainforest Mind is one of my all-time favorite books for gifted adults, and we had the privilege of having author, Paula Prober, join us for a group call to discuss her book! In this episode, we share highlights from the conversation and inspiration for other rainforest minded people!
We explore questions including:
Links:
Is your personality way too big for most people to handle? And do you find yourself sometimes trying to become smaller than you really are? Today we're super excited to have Arianna Bradford join us on the show! Arianna is an intensely passionate portrait photographer who specializes in senior portraits and boudoir photography. In addition to this, she's the founder and lead editor of the Not Your Average Mom (NYAM) Project, which is dedicated to celebrating strong women outside of the role of motherhood. Arianna really loves to talk and to express the ideas that she has going on in her head. She often found herself trying to curb the amount of talking she did when she was in high school, but it seldom worked for longer than ten minutes. Listen in today to find out what Arianna has to share about her passion and her fire.
Arianna was raised in a small town in Florida and spent the first twenty years of her life there. She thought that she would never leave. Due to unexpected circumstances, however, she moved to Texas and stayed there for about six years. During that time, she met her husband and they had two children, Miles and Charlie. Arianna, her husband, and their two young children now live in Happy Valley, Oregon. When she's not busy writing something or photographing people, Arianna enjoys reading, playing video games, or trying to sleep. Listen in today to find out more about Arianna and her brand of intensity.
Show highlights:
Books mentioned on the show:
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.
Links:
Arianna's photography website: Arianna Bradford Sign up to get their newsletter.
The NYAM Project website: NYAM
Instagram: The NYAM Project
Aurora will be starting a challenge on her Express Your Power page, to walk you through different self-exploration questions. These can assist you in coming up with your power word, which is the word that you would like to embody in 2019.
Aurora will also share inspirations from other participants and there will be a daily raffle too, where you could win a power word pendant and a custom essential oil blend for the theme of the day. You can find this at Express Your Power page
It's been a while since I've done a solo episode, between my new schedule and our group call speaker recordings. This week, I'd like to share a bit about what we have coming down the pike in the Embracing Intensity Community!
Highlights:
Links:
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:
Links and Resources:
René on all social media: Black Girl Lost Keys
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:
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: julie@withunderstandingcomescalm.com
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:
Embracing Gifted Facebook Page
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 aurora@auroraremember.com.
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:
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:
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:
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:
Links:
Aurora met today’s special guest, Kate Arms, at the SENG conference recently and was so inspired by her talk entitled "Thriving with Intensity: Mining The Magic From Your Overexcitabilities” that she knew Kate would be the perfect fit for the podcast. Kate’s professional background includes working in a myriad of careers including being a lawyer, administrator, artist, writer, and coach. Kate describes her Signal Fire Coaching Program as a vehicle for her to do her life’s work: helping people thrive as the fullest version of themselves and creating effective systems that support the people working within them.
More in this episode:
Resources Mentioned in the Show:
How to donate to help keep the podcast going via Patreon
website: Thrive With Intensity
website: Parents of Twice Exceptional Kids
website: Signal Fire Coaching
Signal Fire Coaching on Facebook
Signal Fire Coaching on Twitter
Undoing Depression, by Richard O’Connor
Making It All Work, David Allen
If you are a multipotentialite, do you prefer to cycle through interests or do a whole bunch of different things at once? In this week's episode of Embracing Intensity, I discuss my own tendencies when it comes to pursuing multiple passions and why I'm moving from a lot of varied activities at once to focusing on just a small few.
In this episode, I discuss:
Related Links:
Are you struggling with a difficult relationship? Would you like to find out how to use this hardship as a means to transform your life and discover yourself spiritually? Sunny Joy McMillan joins us on the show today and she is a happy divorcee. After a high-conflict marriage, she learned how to have a really awesome post-divorce friendship with her ex-husband, until he passed away in 2018. Sunny is passionate about empowering adults to make soul-based relationship choices and using divorce as a catalyst for personal transformation and spiritual awakening. Listen in today to find out what she has to share about how she guides people towards making their relationship choices based on heart and soul, rather than culture, family, or social concerns.
Sunny describes herself as a recovering attorney and she is also a practicing master life coach, having done her coach-training and certification through Dr. Martha Beck's program. She has recently written a book, called Unhitched, which will be coming out in December. Sunny also hosts a weekly radio show, Sunny In Seattle, where she interviews inspiring guests like Gay Hendricks, Neil Donald Walsch, Mark Nepo, and many others. Listen in today to find out more.
Show highlights:
Links:
Book mentioned on the show: Steering By Starlight by Martha Beck.
For your free, electronic copy of Sunny's book, go to Unhitched Book
For my Patreon Pledge Drive go to Patreon to get great bonuses for signing up. This is where you can join us for the group call.