Today, Gautier Delache shares his vision of giftedness through the Gifted Interview. Thank you, Gautier! He is an Engineer and a Scriptwriter. He currently lives in Paris.
.IF I COULD CHOOSE, WOULD I STILL BE GIFTED?
Yes!
It comes with a lot of challenges and things most people do not know about, but this journey of getting to know myself has only been enhanced by this part of me.
.WHAT BEING GIFTED MEANS TO ME
Living life from a different angle, as if I had a different way to analyze the world, with different consequences:
- Seeing problems coming probably sooner, which requires me to explain and justify a lot.
- Understanding the weight of subjects: what is only a detail, and what is not; but also why this subject is not a detail for someone else. All this can lead me to look very indifferent or even completely uninterested in certain subjects in my professional life.
- Having a constant need for healthy stimulation: lots of quality human interactions, stimulating problems to solve, reflection….
It’s a bit as if I had glasses that highlight what I should or shouldn’t focus on!
.IF I HAD TO CHOOSE AN IMAGE OR A KEYWORD THAT SUMS UP WHAT GIFTEDNESS MEANS
Unintentionally, I ended my answer to the previous question with an answer to this one: It’s a bit as if I had glasses that highlight what I should or shouldn’t focus on!
.HOW LONG HAVE I KNOWN ABOUT IT?
6 years.
.WHAT PHASES HAVE I GONE THROUGH SINCE MY DISCOVERY?
My discovery came as I was recovering from a burnout, and not of my own making. I didn’t try to find out, I was forced to take a test in a larger therapy.
It started with a total rejection: nobody has a manual to explain a human, gifted or not at all, it doesn’t exist (and if it’s possible to do – it shouldn’t exist!).
Once I was out of my burn-out episode, I started contemplating the idea, maybe enjoying it a little more.
Then when I announced it, first to my loved ones, then more generally, was also an important phase.
Now, I don’t feel the need to talk about it as much; I have the impression that the acceptance phase is more or less over.
From now on, it’s a new phase, perhaps of appropriation?
.HOW DO I EXPLAIN IT TO SOMEONE WHO HAS NEVER HEARD OF IT?
Often, I don’t explain it and move on quickly: I’m not sure I want to be pigeonholed or reduced to giftedness.
.THE REMARK WHICH BLEW ME AWAY MOST WHEN I TALKED ABOUT IT
I’ve been told, in a professional situation, that giftedness was just an obsessive neurosis, and that all I had to do was take medication to become “normal” again.
Still a lot of awareness to raise, right?
.HOW IT CHANGED MY LIFE (TO KNOW IT)
To know that I wasn’t a mistake in the human matrix 🙂 .
But also to know what I expect from other people in my close circle, to be able to better choose the content I read, etc.
I’ve also accepted, by finding out about this, that it’s not possible for some people to follow the incessant flow of my thoughts, and that I’m not necessarily the problem… The effort has to come from me to help them understand me (I’m not the problem, but I can help solve it!) or give up and move on if it doesn’t work.
.WHAT I HAVE ALLOWED MYSELF TO DO EVER SINCE
Probably to express myself more and to trust my instincts more.
.WHAT IT CREATES TO OTHERS WHEN I TALK ABOUT IT
Most aren’t surprised, some tell me they already knew, and had known for a long time – they could have told me 🙂
.WHAT IRRITATES ME WITH GIFTEDNESS
I feel like I have to look after my giftedness, make sure it’s doing well. If it’s not stimulated enough, it’ll let me know, if it’s under too much pressure, it’ll let me know. It’s having more responsibilities towards myself, I think.
.WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO EMPHASIZE ABOUT GIFTEDNESS
Diversity! There isn’t just one type of giftedness, but multitudes.
There are exceptions to the exception, and generalities within the exception.
I have a little cousin who was identified as highly gifted, like me. They found out because… He was too bored in class, agitated and had behavioral problems with his teachers. My family asked me to talk to him, but I found it hard to understand what he was going through: my profound giftedness was very academic, getting honors everywhere without ever working too hard. And yet we were both gifted!
.WHAT I PERSONALLY FIND TO BE THE MOST DIFFICULT
Being more sensitive to stress, and insomnia.
.WHAT I PERSONALLY LOVE
Two things come to mind:
- The ability to avoid the details and focus on the main subject.
- The obsessive side: for a few months, focusing on a subject and getting as much out of it as I can. It could be the door-opening system in the metro (!!) or the Italian Renaissance…
.MY WELLBEING TOOL OR PRACTICE THAT HELPS ME MOST
Sport and setting personal goals. The idea of being constantly on the move.
(coaching with Gloria too!!)
NB from Gloria: To discover the coaching Gautier talks about, click HERE.
.A MISREPRESENTATION THAT I WANT TO CALL INTO QUESTION
That giftedness is only cerebral. I learned over time (and with a great coach!) that it was actually more sensory than cerebral for me.
.WHAT I WANT TO SAY TO GIFTED PEOPLE
“Chill out!” would be my motto 🙂
.WHAT I WANT TO SAY TO PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT CONCERNED
Giftedness is one gift, but there are many others – and I remain convinced that every person has a gift, and it’s up to us to find out what our gift is.
.WHAT I WOULD RECOMMEND TO SOMEONE WHO IS WONDERING
To ask ourselves what difference it would make, and where it fits into the dynamic of getting to know ourselves better. This answer should only be a stepping stone to a longer road, itself on an even bigger map.
The risk is to get lost on a path that may be a little self-righteous (it’s cool to know you’ve got a brain that works faster), whereas self-discovery can also be found elsewhere.
.THE MISTAKE NOT TO MAKE FOR A GIFTED PERSON
Confusing pathology with talent!
Giftedness is a talent. The discomfort is not due to giftedness, but to its mismanagement.
This gift must remain a gift, and not be seen as a curse or an illness.
.MY PROFESSIONAL ADVICE FOR GIFTED
The work environment plays a major role, and there are so many toxic or unhealthy environments out there that you have to do your research when joining a company.
.MY PERSONAL ADVICE FOR GIFTED
Be ready to communicate. It’s often said that communication is important – and it is! -but I find that for those of us with a higher intensity of emotions and thoughts, it’s perhaps even more crucial to be willing to communicate.
First of all, we need to know what we want to communicate: When facing very strong thoughts and overly intense emotions, we need to sit down and just ask ourselves: what do I need, what do I want to communicate?
Then you need to know if you can do it in this context.
More and more, I’m realizing that it’s not so much that communication is complicated, but rather that it’s complex for me to be willing to communicate about what’s going on inside my head.
.MY OPINION ABOUT THE IQ WAIS TEST
I remember it was very long and I didn’t find the questions very interesting.
.IS IT A WASTE NOT TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE GIFTED?
Not necessarily, but it’s an opportunity to get to know ourselves.
.WHEN I MEET ANOTHER GIFTED PERSON, DO I RECOGNIZE HIM.HER? BY WHAT?
A certain connection in the ways of thinking, of understanding a subject. A mutual intellectual stimulation too.
.WHAT DO GIFTED PEOPLE HAVE IN COMMON?
Gloria!
.THE CRUCIAL STEPS NOT TO BE MISSED IN THE JOURNEY OF A GIFTED PERSON?
Adapting our environment to our new needs.
