This just in: Jack seemed to be dominating in Magic, the Gathering. However, in their second face off, Madeline pulled out a never-before-used defense saving herself in the last moment, and made a huge comeback by playing another card from the new deck Emily gave her just this week. 

In other news, Howell Nature Camp, already a planet-friendly place by its very mission to save and care for injured or vulnerable wildlife, has become even more environmentally conscientious than ever. This summer, camper-led initiatives have spurred trash pickup hikes along the camp鈥檚 many trails, and food a new food scraps waste management system. 

Not-to-be-missed artistic offerings of this past July included a soaring a cappella rendition of Joni Mitchell鈥檚 鈥淏oth Sides,鈥� stand-up comedy routines managing to be both wacky and actually in good taste, and the most spirited cover of Pharrell Williams鈥� 鈥淗appy鈥� since the minions first came on the scene.

What in the world can all these wildly diverse events have in common? Well of course, these news flashes barely scratch the surface of a single week鈥檚 worth of Yunasa memories highlighting some of Yunasa campers鈥� many, and profoundly intense, passions.

Yunasa lets young people be the most concentrated and complete version of themselves, in the full support of a community, or 鈥渢ribe鈥� as we often call it, of others who appreciate and truly celebrate all the sparkling facets. When I first attended Yunasa about 17 years ago, I immediately went home and told my sister that she should attend as soon as she became old enough.  That was a surprising move only because, although coming from the same parentage and family, the crossover of our major interests is pretty much zero. She wouldn鈥檛 be caught dead watching a dance video, while learning a new dance is the thing that has always excited me most. And on the other hand, I couldn鈥檛 tell you the difference between a sci-fi novel or ones about sentient robots, and have probably never read a spy series, both of which would probably make my sister ashamed to even admit she knows me.

However, at Yunasa, it鈥檚 equally possible to meet a new trusted companion with whom you can finally go in-depth with into your specific passions, or conversely with someone who on the outside, you may have very little in common. They might even come from a totally different generation! Somehow still, when we come together around the campfire to begin and end every camp, you鈥檒l hear the words being sung out, 鈥淚t鈥檚 in every one of us, to be wise, find your heart鈥︹�� and it鈥檚 pretty close to a guarantee that each new and returning camper will have touched some part of that wisdom within themselves during the week. Best of all, they鈥檒l probably have some new skills to help them feel a greater confidence in their ability to reach it again whenever it鈥檚 needed throughout the year. 

Participating in Yunasa as a counselor now feels like a yearly dream. The consecutive years of camp are often as different from one another in highlight activities, favorite jokes, or warmest bunk memories as can be, and yet the through line of them all is seeing a place where each year more people reunite with a sense of deep belonging and acceptance for all they are and are growing into. Having a summer camp that brings people from all over the country, and sometimes the world, as part of 优蜜视频鈥檚 offerings is extraordinarily special. If you are interested in joining us at camp this summer, please apply with the link below to begin your journey of being a part of a special community.

In addition, if you are interested in contributing, any donation goes a long way toward making what was initially only a dream of the Fellows, now into a living reality. It is the opinion of a 10-year+ Yunasa veteran that the risk of some tears on the last day of camp, when you must bid farewell to friends you may not see for at least another year, is worth the opportunity of finding oneself and richly-cherished connections, which are so great a part of the Yunasa experience. 

In today鈥檚 media and news, I feel like I hear more stories about the benefits of sharing emotions and discussing mental health than I ever did growing up. This is a wonderful thing and through popular media including television and movie portrayals and celebrity confessions, we are growing more accustomed to talking about historically taboo or just unknown topics surrounding emotions and mental health.

With great strides being made in these conversations, it seems important to discuss emotional intensity among our country鈥檚 brightest, and sometimes most vulnerable, youth.

The 聽has a great explanation for why gifted youth tend to experience more intense emotions, saying, 鈥淚ntellectual complexity goes hand in hand with emotional depth. Just as gifted children’s thinking is more complex and has more depth than other children’s, so too are their emotions more complex and more intense.鈥�

Gifted youth are often more aware of and affected by their surroundings. Children who feel things with great intensity experience the world in a different way than their non-gifted peers. Emotional or physical reactions to events can last longer for gifted children. These experiences of heightened stimulation observed in many gifted individuals are referred to as intensities or聽Overexcitabilities. Polish psychologist identified five overexcitabilities and their associated behaviors:

1. Psychomotor: Characterized primarily by high levels of energy
2. Sensual: Characterized by a heightened awareness of all five senses: sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing
3. Emotional: Characterized by extreme emotional sensitivity
4. Intellectual: Characterized by deep curiosity and thought
5. Imaginational: Characterized by vivid imagination and visualization

The first step in managing intense emotions is identifying and understanding them. If you think your child exhibits overexcitabilities, talk to your child about how they feel and react to certain situations. Healthy discussions around expressing emotions make everyone feel safer and more understood. Starting these discussions at a young age enforces good habits for the future.

How exactly do these overexcitabilities manifest themselves? It varies from child to child, but there are common associated with all five overexcitabilities.

• Psychomotor responses can include pacing, rapid talk or use of hand gestures
• Sensual responses can include sensitivities to clothing textures, food tastes or a need for physical displays of affection like cuddles or hugs
• Emotional responses can include intense feelings of empathy or compassion, depression, anxiety or loneliness
• Imaginational responses can include visualizations, use of metaphorical speech, dreaming or magical thinking
• Intellectual responses can include constant curiosity, deep thinking or a propensity towards solving puzzles and problems

Understanding what emotional intensities are and the behaviors associated with them can help with misdiagnosis or just plain misunderstanding. While some of the more extreme behaviors associated with overexcitabilities can be worrisome for a parent or educator, such as a child鈥檚 depression or anxiety, there can also be a wonderful bright side to overexcitabilities.

Some of the benefits of overexcitabilities can include:

• Empathy and compassion towards others
• A desire to solve major world problems
• Creativity
• A high sense of self-awareness
• Enthusiasm
• High energy

Intense emotions don鈥檛 always need to be feared or regulated. They are what make so many gifted children wonderfully unique. However, for the times that overintesities do need to be managed, here are some strategies:

• Meditation
• Yoga
• Outdoor physical activities such as going on walks, hikes or playing at a park
• Quiet reflection time
• Journaling or drawing
• Encourage discussions about how your child feels and why they feel the way they do

I hope this blog post helps with identifying and managing intense emotions in a gifted child. 优蜜视频鈥檚 also hosts a list of books, articles, programs and professionals that can be used as additional sources of information about overexcitabilities.