Welcome to Day Ten of the July Intensity Project!
31 Days Toward Living with More Intensity & Creativity
“Persons so endowed [with sensual intensity] immerse themselves in the delight of beautiful things, sounds of nature, sounds of words and music; they note the form, color, and balance in anything around them. Specific aversions to certain tastes, smells, or touch, and the like are also common. Hedonism is often sensual. Sensual pleasure tends to be relaxing and temporarily satisfying.” ~ Michael Piechowski
Before we continue our journey through Dabrowki’s five areas of overexcitability, I should mention that intense people won’t necessarily experience all five of the overexcitabilities. You might identify strongly with the intellectual and psychomotor intensities that we’ve already discussed, for example, or you might not. Maybe your intensity is more strongly sensual and imaginative, or emotional and intellectual.
In fact, one of the interesting aspects of Dabrowski’s theory is that he believed the persons “most susceptible to positive disintegration processes and consequently to the development of personality are types with increased affectional [emotional] and imaginative excitability” (Kazimierz Dabrowski, Personality-shaping Through Positive Disintegration).
While I began by discussing the form of excitability we most often associate with giftedness―intellectual―that is not, in his view, the most important aspect of intensity when it comes to lifelong personal growth and personality development.
So, even if you don’t consider yourself intellectually intense or in a state of psychomotor readiness, do any of these sound familiar?
- You appreciate comfort in ways that others do not, preferring soft or natural fibers in your clothes, specific colors in your living space, a near-silent work environment or one with very specific background sounds, or certain weather conditions or indoor temperatures.
- You notice and appreciate beauty, whether in the natural world, artwork, literature, music, or everyday scenery and objects.
- You might hear or be distracted by noises that others don’t notice, to the point of being unable to concentrate if, for instance, a clock is ticking in another room.
- You can be very sensitive to tastes and smells and may enjoy fine food, cooking, and dining.
- You might have a low tolerance for feeling dirty.
- You might be extremely bothered by specific flavors and aromas, limiting your choice of foods or use of scents.
- You might enjoy being the center of attention, whether in informal groups or on stage.
- You may seek stimulation in various ways, which may include thrill seeking or sensual activities.
- You like to feel good and may have a narrower range than others of what conditions allow you to feel good.
In her excellent book The Gifted Adult, Mary-Elaine Jacobsen writes of the difference of sensual intensity:
“Across the board, experts identify our heightened sensory awareness and perceptivity as markers of giftedness. This means we are serious experiencers. Life really is dramatic for us. Each part of our sensory system is magnified, so we operate in, around, and through all the sensations of the moment. We react to things more because we feel them more and respond to the intricacies, patterns, tone, and color of different situations. The gifted person understands on a sensory level the difference between a lavender velvet evening and a white satin morning.” [emphasis added]
Jacobsen urges sensitive people to reframe the criticisms they are used to hearing (“You’re so sensitive and dramatic!”) as something more positive (“My feelings and senses are heightened”).
Do you or does a loved one have sensual intensity?
Have you been criticized (or do you criticize yourself) for being too sensitive?
How can you begin to understand the trait of being a “serious experiencer” differently?
Related Post: Hobbies To Please the Senses
Previous July Intensity Project Posts:
- Day One: List Your Best Qualities…
- Day Two: Wonderfully Weird?
- Day Three: Got Personality?
- Day Four: Celebrate Your Way
- Day Five: Torrance’s Creative Manifesto
- Day Six: A Spork Divergent Thinking Exercise
- Day Seven: The Euphoric Rush of Everyday Life
- Day Eight: Intellectual Intensity
- Day Nine: Pyschomotor Readiness
I relate very strongly to this one. From a very young age, my mom said that I refused to wear anything that wasn’t soft and that I often told her I needed “peace and quiet.” The nice thing about being a grown-up is that you can create the world that you want around you. Writing allows a very peaceful and quiet work environment (I’m not someone who usually listens to music while I write), and my biggest criteria for any clothing I buy (even jeans) is whether they’re soft. I just dropped a ton of money on one pair of jeans–but they’re SO comfortable!
This is fascinating!! I think that sensual intensity is a gift. The human body is really a machine that was made for sensing. How wonderful to be able to be so aware of this gift.
Kristi, I completely agree about soft jeans! Also, I think your point about being a grown-up and a writer, both of which allows us to control our environments more than when we were in school.
Kathy, I love your idea of sensual intensity as a gift. I will remember to think of it that way more often.
Thank you both! I learn so much from these discussions.