Genius!

There's only ever going to be one Einstein.  The mold broke after Astaire and Rogers. No bulb will ever burn with the same brightness as Edison.  As much as we may long for one there is no clone of Curie and no one ever met another Etta.

True genius is rare.  Or is it?

Of course it's true that the genius of people like Michelangelo and Mozart isn't common.  Austins don't abound.  Roosevelts are rare. Tolstoys don't grow on trees.  But is it their particular genius that we recall--or that they became known for it?  What if the next symphony is living on Skid Row?  What if the cure for cancer is working a minimum wage job because she only speaks Spanish?  What if....

What if genius isn't rare?

The truth is, each of us is a genius--a genius at being ourselves.  No one does it better (or, as Oscar Wilde quipped, "Be yourself.  Everyone else is already taken").  And each of us has, built in, a genius that is unmatched.  The trick is in recognizing it...and our gift to the world is in acting on it.

Many are taught early on that it's best to keep things hidden--under a bushel, out of harm's way.  We don't want to risk it.  And sadder still, many have learned, over and over, that there is no opportunity for them to shine--their genius oppressed because of their state of mind, the color of their skin or the curl of their hair.  But none of that takes away from the reality that each person on this planet has something to give. 

Maybe you can imagine a world in which the genius of every one of us is realized.

I think you can.  You're smart that way.

(c) Fiechter, 2015.  Thanks for reading...feel free to share.  Permission for republication is reserved.