My abridged answer is: Yes!

Here's the longer version:

1. Do any/many of you have OEs?

Yes, every box on Dabrowski's list is ticked for me. Add to that some (pleasant) synaesthesia. Case in point: for the last three months, I've been running on an average of 4 hours of sleep per night, for a variety of reasons relating to all of Dabrowski's categories.

At some point or another, I've been told by most of the people I'm closest to that I'm unusually "intense" or "passionate". I speak quickly, come up with new ideas on the fly, get inspired and emotionally invested in ideas, and get really excited to find people to share that with. I've been asked many times how I sustain such passion for so long. Most of the time this is said with positive regard, but I'd be lying if I didn't acknowledge that some people are really off-put by my intensity. Such is life!

2. Are you sufficiently stimulated in your current environment?

On the work front, no. In my personal activities, yes.

I'm fortunate in my work, in that it's a quasi-academic environment with graduate-trained colleagues, so it's still better suited to my needs than many alternatives. However, I am one of a limited group who actively seek out new challenges and like to push the envelope intellectually. It can be difficult to swim upstream constantly in an environment where most people see their work as lifestyle-driven, and not mission-driven. (This is probably an indication that it's not the right fit in the medium to long-term.)

If I could have a 100-hour day and only need 8 hours of sleep in that time, I'd spend most of my free time playing with my son and just expand my volunteer initiatives into the incremental hours. (Does anyone have a time turner?)

3. Do you ever feel a bit odd?

I regularly feel different from others, yes, but I don't internalize it in a negative way. I embrace who I am, as I hope we all do!

We all have our strengths and weaknesses, and I can find commonality and build rapport with pretty much anyone, because I generally love building relationships and most people are good people.

That being said, I find conversations with many people disheartening. Others' lack of self-awareness, limited sense of purpose, and inability to connect immediate personal concerns to larger societal/political trends is concerning to me. I find myself having to tread lightly, because these are generally good people, but ones who don't see much outside their quotidian lives, and who have limited vision for how they can create a lasting, positive change with their lives. It's a feeling of constantly needing to gently educate others and inspiring them to inform themselves for the betterment of their families and society, tempered by the disappointment of their apathy.

4. Do you share all of your thoughts with anyone?

It would be impossible to share all of my thoughts with anyone, because there isn't enough time in the day or a person patient enough to endure that! Heck, I fall asleep to my own never-ending stream of consciousness every day! wink

Levity aside, yes, I'm *able* to share myself fully with a handful of very dear friends--one of whom is my partner--but what I feel compelled to share with each is only a fraction of who I am. Each of us have differences in at least one critical area which makes full and mutual understanding an impossibility, but we can respect each other and admire our differences as well as our similarities. Different people meet different needs of mine, such that I feel heard and understood when I consider the totality of my relationships (and I hope that I provide that for them, as well!).

Other random thoughts

RRD, I'm going to throw another item into the mix where I feel quite different from the average person. More than anything, I feel my drive for constant self-improvement and unrelenting hunger to fix the wrongs of the world is what differentiates me. Whether this is distinct from the intellectual basket you alluded to, or part and parcel of it, remains to be determined.

I hear colleagues talking fondly about retiring and unwinding, whereas I see my life as a ~100-year horizon for making a meaningful, lasting contribution to the world. Issues like preventing child abuse, preventing domestic/inter-partner violence, legal reform on various topics, social justice in education and social services for children, needs-blind medical care, and optimal economic and political system design keep me constantly engaged.

Even when I'm taking "me" time (e.g. exercising, bathing, praying), these issues and my ability to fix them is CONSTANTLY on my mind, if on the back burner. It's like I have two parallel thought tracks playing at any time- what I'm attending to in the moment, and a parallel internal ideation dialogue.
I don't ever see myself "retiring" in the conventional sense. Rather, I'd like to kick up my efforts in these areas as my family situation allows (my son comes first!), gradually devoting my full time to these as I become an empty-nester.

To me, it is unconscionable that I be attuned to these issues, passionate about them, and able to elicit change, but not do so. I can only gape at others who either don't see the issues and feel their urgency, or who have no intention of using the talents they have for others. When I can make a compelling case for a subset of the population with unmet needs and be met with blank or uncaring responses, that disquiets me.

I don't care how intelligent or affluent someone is. Give me someone with a kind heart and a will to do good for others, and they get immense respect from me.