Author: Jessie Mannisto
A divergent thinker who can't abide an echo chamber, Jessie has served as assistant to the Consul General of Japan, Google Policy Fellow, and CIA leadership analyst. She is now an independent writer and analyst.
Learning to Pilot Your Spaceship Autopsychotherapy in the Overexcitable Life
If you want to make it as a metaphorical overexcitable astronaut, you’ve got to learn to read your instrument panel. That’s what autopsychotherapy is for.
The Overexcitable Experience A Letter from the Editors for Issues 2 and 3
What does it mean to be “overexcitable?” Where are we most likely to find these people? And why is it an important part of the experience of positive disintegration? Third Factor’s editors offer a basic introduction to Dabrowski’s overexcitabilities.
The Long Journey of the Overexcitable Meditator An Interview with Kate Arms
If you’ve ever said “Oh, I wish I could meditate, but my mind’s just too active,” then this article’s for you. We sat down with Kate Arms, an experienced meditator and life coach, to discuss how meditation can be helpful to those with overexcitability.
The Positive Disintegration of Robert F. Kennedy, Part II: The Courage to Reintegrate
After his brother’s assassination, Robert Kennedy faced a disintegration. Though it was brutal, it was also a positive one, demonstrating the power of overexcitability when fueled by high-level courage. Bobby’s ill-fated campaign ultimately showed glimmers of level V, the highest level of personal development.
Excitable Reads: The Mind Illuminated by Culadasa
The Mind Illuminated is a great meditation manual that will guide you, step by step, from establishing your practice to achieving tranquility and equanimity. If all you’re looking to do is learn to sustain your focus, it’ll help you with that, too.
An Introduction to Dabrowski’s Levels and Dynamisms
Dabrowski’s hierarchy of levels is one of the most well-known aspects of his theory of positive disintegration. But what’s really going on in those levels? And what are those “dynamism” things, anyway? The editors of Third Factor Magazine explain the basics here.
The Positive Disintegration of Robert F. Kennedy, Part I: The Overexcitable Attorney General
Years before I first heard the term “positive disintegration,” I was struck by the process as it played out in a biography of Robert F. Kennedy. Intense, quirky, and with a sense of the epic, RFK and his life journey reveal the human drama beneath Kazimierz Dabrowski’s academic jargon, showcasing overexcitability, dynamisms, and inner psychic transformation in all its dramatic glory.
How Can “Disintegration” Be Positive?
When there’s a sickness in the society around you, Kazimierz Dabrowski argued that being maladjusted to it is actually a way to be mentally healthy. While such maladjustment still often leads us to disintegration, the good news is that this kind of disintegration may simply be a step on the broader process of reintegrating ourselves in a healthier, more powerful way.
Overexcitability: Where It Came From, Where It’s Going
To navigate the controversy that has erupted around overexcitability—is it related to giftedness? Is it misused as excuse, or a reason not to seek needed help?—it’s useful to step back and see what it means in the context of the theory that gave it its name.