The first thing I didn’t know about being a gifted adult was that I am one. I just kinda thought I had once attended a gifted program.
Though I did know that maybe my brain works a little differently than most. Having spent a little bit of my career in the mental health area, I knew that cognition and emotion are interrelated but I never thought about how that applied to giftedness. But here’s what I didn’t know: because my brain works differently, how I perceive the world is quantitatively different than most. Differentiated not just cognitively but also emotionally. I learned that some of my personality traits, and more importantly, the extent of these traits, are connected to how I think. Because I think differently, I also perceive and feel differently.
This idea completely stuns me. One of the reasons I’m stunned by this idea is that I NEVER KNEW THIS until now. Even though I attended a gifted program for five years as did my three siblings. Even though my daughter is currently enrolled in a gifted program. And when I learned about the connection between giftedness and who I am as person, including how I feel, I called up many people I know who had also been enrolled in gifted programs to see if they had ever heard this before. Not a single one had, including those people who had studied psychology and education.
So I’m very interested in how this affects…well, pretty much every facet of my life but I’m particularly interested in how having a ‘gifted personality’ affects my work, my career. I and many gifted people I know have struggled with their career. Most gifted people I know have a job/career that would be considered successful by conventional standards, however, a lot of them, including myself, have yet to find personal satisfaction in their work.
So that’s why I set up this site.
I am at the very beginning of exploring adult giftedness and how it may apply to my life. Because I’m at the very beginning, I have to confess, I hesitate to write any of this. To have my thoughts written down, fixed in cyberspace…I know I’m creating a platform to contradict myself. Because I have no doubt, I will contradict myself as I learn. My experience has been that as I assimilate new information, I quickly change course, potentially 180 degrees, sometimes not even noticing I’ve done so, as I’ve completely integrated the information and recalibrated my position. At the same time, I’m prone to express my ideas emphatically…and when I encounter some new information and alter my position, I express that new position equally emphatically as the original one. Until I started reading about adult giftedness, I assumed this characteristic of continually changing my mind was my own personal idiosyncracy which exists primarily to completely frustrate my co-workers. But apparently, flexibility of thought and the willingness to re-evaluate one’s position is likely a hallmark of high intelligence. Who knew?
So I warn you: I have a lot more questions than answers. The only thing I am expert in is my own experience. However, I wanted to share the information and my journey because it seems that gifted adults are lacking in community and information. Furthermore, in contrast, to the extensive information about gifted children there is comparatively little about gifted adults. I’m hoping you will add to the limited body of knowledge about gifted adults, particularly gifted adult vocational choices, by adding your voice to this site.. whether by adding a comment or sharing your experience at the “tell me about yourself” tab. I know, generally speaking, you’re an opinionated, skeptical group…so bring it on.
