Today, Emilie Vion shares her vision of giftedness through the Gifted Interview. Thank you, Emilie! She is the Director of Partnerships and Customer Success. She currently lives in Montréal, Canada.
.IF I COULD CHOOSE, WOULD I STILL BE GIFTED?
I would say yes. Personally, aside from some difficulty channeling some overflow, I like to think of it as an added strength.
.WHAT (MY OWN) GIFTEDNESS MEANS TO ME
I really consider it an asset. From a very young age, I felt different from others in many ways. And I have always liked that. I love my individuality and my Giftedness reinforces it. On a daily basis, I don’t notice my differences so much because I have identified and structured them globally. I must admit that sometimes, in moments of professional or emotional overload, it can be more difficult to control everything and still see it as a strength. But being positive by nature, I don’t want a burden on my shoulders.
.IF I HAD TO CHOOSE AN IMAGE OR A KEYWORD THAT SUMS UP WHAT GIFTEDNESS MEANS
The reflection of light coming through a multi-colored stained glass window. Many different ideas and details make up a unique whole.
.HOW LONG HAVE I KNOWN ABOUT IT?
It has been a little over a year.
.WHAT PHASES HAVE I GONE THROUGH SINCE MY DISCOVERY?
My path of discovery is also atypical. I went through stages of acceptance before I even knew what I was accepting. It all started with professional difficulties where I felt out of place, unrecognized, and clearly not at my full potential. I started reading and watching things about multipotentiality, slashers, etc. All this questioning was accompanied by a moment of introspection about my time, my priorities in life, etc. All the pieces of the puzzle put together made me realize that there was probably something to dig into. There is no particular awareness or fear in my story. However, I must admit that a certain relief came out of it. That of not being abnormal, of not being problematic, but of being part of a whole. Even if this whole may not be known yet, knowing has reassured me and has allowed me to better review certain past and painful experiences through a new spectrum.
.HOW DO I EXPLAIN IT TO SOMEONE WHO HAS NEVER HEARD OF IT?
It is always a challenge. The terminologies that are currently used do more harm than good I find. So I simply try to explain that there is no superiority whatsoever, only that the path of understanding and analysis is different from most humans. Just as there are many small and large paths to Compostela, not everyone will take the same one, depending on where they are initially. It is just that one brain will use different neural pathways than the majority.
.THE REMARK WHICH BLEW ME AWAY MOST WHEN I TALKED ABOUT IT
“It takes you a while to figure out sometimes, are you really sure you’re gifted?”
.WHAT I HAVE ALLOWED MYSELF TO DO EVER SINCE
I allow myself to listen to myself and accept myself. I have a better understanding of how I function and I am using this new reading to accept myself in my processes, especially in relation to procrastination. I realized that I excel more in last-minute mode than in anticipation mode, so I try not to stress about deadlines.
.WHAT IT CREATES TO OTHERS WHEN I TALK ABOUT IT
Sometimes an interest, sometimes a total lack of understanding but unfortunately often a judgment.
.WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO EMPHASIZE ABOUT GIFTEDNESS
That despite everything, we are all different. Even if we are all lumped together in the same category, our personalities and cultures, heritages, etc. will make us unique even among the gifted.
.WHAT I PERSONALLY FIND TO BE THE MOST DIFFICULT
The difficulty of turning off your brain. Always being in perpetual questioning and bubbling, I am often afraid of going into overdrive. This is what I find most difficult to deal with personally.
.WHAT I PERSONALLY LOVE
My insatiable curiosity and this constant need to learn and understand.
.MY WELLBEING TOOL OR PRACTICE THAT HELPS ME MOST
Unfortunately, I haven’t found it yet.
.A MISREPRESENTATION THAT I WANT TO CALL INTO QUESTION
The idea that we are better than everyone else.
.WHAT I WOULD RECOMMEND TO SOMEONE WHO IS WONDERING
Read, question, and look back. If you feel a gap, chances are it really exists. But there is no rush to know or to understand. Patience can greatly help in the process. Talking to people you trust can also help a lot. We quickly realize that we often attract each other and this can help us move forward on the path with guidance if needed.
.MY PROFESSIONAL ADVICE FOR GIFTED
Know yourself and your way of functioning and your limits in order to inform your team, and your superior or to use it to choose better your responsibilities or objectives. I am currently working on a project for a professional association to help the gifted community in business.
.MY PERSONAL ADVICE FOR GIFTED
The person with whom you share your life must be interested in your reality to know and understand you better. We have different needs sometimes and this can require a certain reading grid. Even if I don’t necessarily want to believe that only another gifted person will really understand us, since we are all different, but from experience, I find it easier to share your life among gifted people.
.MY OPINION ABOUT THE IQ WAIS TEST
I am personally against tests. But this is just my personal opinion.
I find it difficult to identify very precisely someone belonging to the gifted group following tests that are carried out at a given time. Depending on the day or the period of one’s life, one will not necessarily respond or see things in the same way. I think that individual instinct should be taken into consideration. If a number doesn’t allow us to fit into a category, we will feel rejected again when we already feel out of place. Being on the borderline already tells us a lot.
Furthermore, the tests were created according to a very western and not very inclusive standard of thinking. Other cultures or ways of thinking can greatly differ from the answers and therefore bias the detection.
.IS IT A WASTE NOT TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE GIFTED?
If one is well in one’s life and aware of one’s differences without having put a word to it, but fulfilled, I would say no. The main thing in all this is to be happy and well in your head.
.WHEN I MEET ANOTHER GIFTED PERSON, DO I RECOGNIZE HIM.HER? BY WHAT?
It’s hard to explain. A certain “too much”, but too much what? That’s another question…
.A WISH FOR THE FUTURE
That we are not stigmatized as a problem and that we do what is necessary to be integrated into our society.