In Others' Words: Genius

"Everyone is a genius at least once a year. The real geniuses simply have their bright ideas closer together." 

~ Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, German Scientist

Everyone is a genius at least once a year.

Really?

Don't get me wrong. This quote fascinates me. I love how much potential this quote gives me. I've been a genius sometime this year. How did I miss that moment?

There are times when I think I'm brilliantly funny. Times I crack myself up to the point of tears. Of course, it's usually when I'm so overtired my kids say, "Mom's doing it again. She needs to go to bed." And they laugh. Not with me--at me. Or maybe a little of both. I mean, I'm funny when I'm tired.

But if I look back over the last eight months, do I recall moments of genius? Even one?

My first response is no. Not me. Leave the genius-status to others. And then I think ... wait a minute. There was that moment when I chose to listen to a friend instead of talk about myself.

Genius.

That moment when I knew I'd pushed myself way-past my emotional and physical limits. I gave myself permission to rest. (I've heard it said a wise woman knows her limitations.)

Genius.

That moment when I listened to my mentor's challenge to dig deeper into my character, to write not just a better scene but a "breathless" scene. I may not have landed the scene perfectly ... but I tried.

Genius.

Maybe it's not so much that I haven't had those moments of brilliance. Maybe it's that I'm under the mistaken impression that genius is something big and grand and larger-than-life-size. Maybe it's that I haven't take the time to pause ... to appreciate ... to be thankful for the lessons learned in my unexpected blink-and-you-miss-them moments of genius.

In Your Words: "Everyone" includes you. You realize that, right? So tell me, what genius moment or moments have you experienced in the last eight months? And do you have any tricks up your sleeve that help you be at your most brilliant best?  

photo by pukeycow*/stockxchng.com

* I'm thinking someone wasn't having a genius moment when they came up with that name.