this is phenomenal. how do you think intense people can build community & encourage each other?
also, two quotes I love on 'intense' people, from two very intense authors -
"[there is] some basic certainty which a noble soul has about itself, something which does not allow itself to be sought out or found or perhaps even to be lost. The noble soul has reverence for itself." - Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, #287
"And there is a Catskill eagle in some souls that can alike dive down into the blackest gorges, and soar out of them again and become invisible in the sunny spaces. And even if he for ever flies within the gorge, that gorge is in the mountains; so that even in his lowest swoop the mountain eagle is still higher than other birds upon the plain, even though they soar." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, ch. 96
This brought me to tears and gave me all the feels.
I was told throughout most of my life that intense people need others to "balance them out" but have found the plant analogy quite true--when surrounded by other intense people its "blooming like dying plants given water."
I think you are lucky - to feel fully alive and even obsessed is great (in today's world) - the key is just finding the others and being really decisive about who to align yourself around and in what environments.
I really love where this ended. Finding your people is very hard, but when you do it's like a wave raising a boat and sending it on its way.
this is phenomenal. how do you think intense people can build community & encourage each other?
also, two quotes I love on 'intense' people, from two very intense authors -
"[there is] some basic certainty which a noble soul has about itself, something which does not allow itself to be sought out or found or perhaps even to be lost. The noble soul has reverence for itself." - Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, #287
"And there is a Catskill eagle in some souls that can alike dive down into the blackest gorges, and soar out of them again and become invisible in the sunny spaces. And even if he for ever flies within the gorge, that gorge is in the mountains; so that even in his lowest swoop the mountain eagle is still higher than other birds upon the plain, even though they soar." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, ch. 96
You've put to words how most people describe me and how a lot of the times I can't relate to them. Goddamnit I'm intense!
Can we be friends????? I can't explain how connected I feel to everything you write.
This was really gripping and satisfying to read..an amazing way to describe what intensity feels like..
In Heidi Priebe's "This Is Me Letting You Go", she has an essay titled "For every fierce woman who has tried to be time".
Your amazing words in this article evoked similar feelings in me as her essay, and that is beautiful! feels great to find people who resonate :)
This brought me to tears and gave me all the feels.
I was told throughout most of my life that intense people need others to "balance them out" but have found the plant analogy quite true--when surrounded by other intense people its "blooming like dying plants given water."
Thanks for writing this :)
My fave piece of yours to date :)
we read this book chapter about teddy roosevelt in business school - he was extremely exhuberant and the conversation was whether this was a good thing or not and how to do it - https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/business/podcasts/presidential/pdfs/theodore-roosevelt-transcript.pdf
I think you are lucky - to feel fully alive and even obsessed is great (in today's world) - the key is just finding the others and being really decisive about who to align yourself around and in what environments.
love this essay by the way! keep going