I started mainstream school aged just 3, turning 4 a few days later. The reason I started school so early was because my parents recognised I was somehow different from most of the children they knew and, having approached the school, I was tested for ‘giftedness’. Gifted children are classed as being in the top 5% of comparable children intellectually and by the age of 5 I was playing chess with my Dad and had the reading ability of a 9 year old.

Academically I sailed through school and wasn’t stretched in any way until, at the age of 13, I was selected to attend an Oxbridge focused independent Grammar school. Suddenly I was with other really clever kids and actually had to start putting in a bit of effort to achieve high grades. It was a shock to the system, I’m not gonna lie!

I was good at every subject………apart from maths. It was like I was somehow number blind and although I achieved 10 Grade A ‘O’ levels in all my other subjects I actually failed my Maths and had to re-sit, scraping through with a C. To this day I’m still rubbish with numbers.

On top of being academically ‘gifted’ I also have the trait of High Sensitivity. This is a type of sensory processing sensitivity/personality trait – a comparison would be introversion or extroversion. I was born this way and being a Highly Sensitive Person is probably the reason I love being creative, whether that’s photography, gardening, crafting or writing. It’s also the reason I was traumatised by watching Lassie and Bambi as a kid and can physically feel other people’s (and animal’s) physical pain.

People who share a combination of giftedness and high sensitivity are said to have a Rainforest Mind.

People with Rainforest Minds tend to possess similar characteristics to each other. We are described by other people as “intense”, “complex” or “overwhelming” and I’ve long been told I’m “too much”. We often have a strong sense of fairness and justice, are spiritual, questioning, sometimes eccentric, intuitive, energetic, opinionated, idealistic and prone to burn out and exhaustion.

People with Rainforest Minds are not neurodivergent. Despite having a brain which often wanders off on a tangent and is easily bored I do not have ADD or ADHD and I am not on the autistic spectrum. I just have a mind which is capable of many simultaneous trains of thought and craves constant stimulation.

Highly Sensitive People comprise just 15% of the population and ‘gifted’ people a mere 5%. To be part of such a small portion of the masses is lonely. As a child I didn’t have much in common with other kids, much preferring the conversation and company of adults, and as an adult I can count on one hand the people I’ve met who don’t bore me. That sounds arrogant doesn’t it? Being made to feel ashamed is the curse of anyone who doesn’t fit societal norms.

People with Rainforest Minds can face unique challenges in a world which is not built for us. Add childhood trauma and/or family dysfunction to the mix and the effects can be devastating. I hid my intellect for decades (and still do around most people) because I’ve found it creates barriers to fitting in and I still struggle to speak about my achievements as, from experience, I know it’s led to jealousy. I don’t think I am in any way “better” than anyone else but I do have to recognise that I am different in my intellectual capacity, emotional needs and temperament to 95% of the population. It’s taken me 58 years to give myself permission to own that.

I’m writing about my experience of having a Rainforest Mind in case it resonates with any of my readers. If so feel free to drop me a line via my Contact Form. I can also recommend the book ‘Your Rainforest Mind’ by Paula Prober if you’d like a deeper dive and she also has an excellent blog here.