Jesus was not a one-off. He was extremely well promoted. There have been many who have such intense light of being that they shine brightly enough to spark a domino effect of creativity. I have seen evidence that we are all Jesus in waiting. Sometimes the moment comes early in life, and we are a genius for a brief while. Consider the phrase, ‘his candle burned brightly, then was gone.” We can also come to our full potential in our elder years, it’s only a matter of time.
Sometimes we are allowed to be genius, or encouraged to be, or bullied to be, or find ourselves in circumstances so perfect that we rise to our fullest potential. Some perform miracles, or inspire them. We all have the ability to be part of a creative process. During my teaching career I had a specialization in helping those students who were on either side of the bell curve (sometimes called the Gaussian Distribution). When Special Education services were mandated by the Ontario government, school boards found they could get more money from the province by identifying students outside of this normative distribution. No one wanted to designate a child’s deficiency. There was also controversy when ten percent of students were considered gifted.
I’ve witnessed genius in all my students, because I wished to see the child not the label. One student may do poorly on every written test but shine when asked to tell a story. Others excel when movement is involved. I recall one fellow with fondness for the way he started campfires without fail during outdoor education classes. Another still holds my memory because she could organize a group activity within a moment’s notice. The question of how to define a gifted student is problematic. I agree with current thinking along the lines of multiple intelligences and spectral recognition of fluidity during one’s lifetime.
Some creatives have spoken or written about channeling energy. They may say that the song just came to them or this book just ‘wrote itself’. Baseball players point to heaven when they make it to base after getting a hit. Entrepreneurs believe their genius comes from plain hard work. I have come up with what seems like a brilliant idea on occasion and merely thought I’d finally caught a break! Quite often it’s easier to recognize genius in others than it is in ourselves. I’m sure you have your favourite grade A geniuses: Mozart, Einstein, Gretzky, Klein, Pauling, Jobs, Jackson, Hawking, Dorsey, Leonardo, Mays, Gandhi, Musk, Curie etc.–– The field is wide open through the ages and in all disciplines.
Channeling a force and making it work for ourselves seems to be the key. Where this comes from remains a mystery. The phenomenon of genius can frighten us or enlighten us. It doesn’t necessarily come from our DNA giving us a bigger brain, faster reflexes, or knowing how to play the stock market. I believe there is truth to a common consciousness: We’re one big brain!
While we wait for inspiration, let’s decide to use our gift for good.
