I found out that I’m gifted at a quite unfortunate time. It was right after I had moved to the U.S. last year. The reason that I consider this unfortunate is not just because I missed out on a decade of potential gifted education and a lifetime of understanding myself better. It’s because moving to the States was already hard enough. When my husband’s request for a residency permit in my home country of the Netherlands was denied, we … Read More
In between two sobs of absolute misery during my short but sudden depression as a teenager, I wailed at my mom for help. Finally frustrated with my laying-on-the-couch feeling-sorry-for-myself era of apathy, she lost it and snapped that she couldn’t fix me. I was dumb-founded. She can’t fix me? … That sudden moment of crickets was an oasis of quietude after all the self-destructive anxious thoughts that had been swirling around in my head. I felt … Read More
I’m on a mission. I’ve always known I was meant to do something important. When I was younger, I simply thought I was going to be very successful. Now I know I’m meant to do something greatly important for the world. And the longer I think about that, the more I realize that that however motivating it is, it doesn’t make me unique. I assume every single person has at it’s highest purpose something that greatly benefits the world, … Read More
Because emotionality and sensitivity are frequently looked down upon, while their opposing character traits are heavily romanticized in the Western world, people often have a disturbed image of their own emotional behavior. We are constantly under pressure to restrain our emotional selves. We have been taught to apologize for our feelings, to be ashamed about our tears, and to fear being called hysterical or dramatic. But if you immediately discard your feelings as a weakness, how will you gain understanding … Read More
To test your open-mindedness, let me ask you a question. Imagine that I were to show you a picture of an angry and intimidating looking Arab guy with a big beard. What do you think? What is the first thing that comes to your mind? Is it the word ‘terrorist’? If the first thing that came to mind is something along those lines, that’s okay. What?! When I say that that’s okay, I mean that it’s not your fault. This … Read More