How to be a Genius

Would you believe me if I told you that you were a genius?  Probably not. The word genius is intimidating.

Mostly because it is so appealing and yet feels so far beyond our own capabilities.  Who doesn’t want to be a genius?  To be considered a person so smart, so special, so far beyond the ordinary?



Yet the Latin root of the word genius means: the spirit of a place.  
 
So for a person to be a genius it means they must fully and thoroughly inhabit themselves.  They must fully and thoroughly be themselves. 

And what does this mean for our writing?  How can our writing be genius?  How can it be:
the spirit of the place?

Well, the place would be us.  So, if we were genius writers we would be writing things that were a
reflection of our deepest self, of our truest beliefs. 
 
We would not be chasing trends in the publishing world.  We would not be trying to write the next best seller.  We would not be trying to write things that would attract an agent or a publisher.

We would be writing our stories.  The stories we were born to tell.  The stories only we can tell. 
We recognize these stories because they do not deplete us, they continually fill us up as we write.  
 
But it is not easy to touch this place of genius inside ourselves, let alone stay in touch with it long enough to draw out our stories.  When I think of genius in this way I see in my mind a murky pond.  I see its waters churned up, its bottom obscured.  That’s what most of us are like: churned up from constant busyness, from constant rushing, from believing we are not good enough as we are. Then I think of the same pond, still and calm, its waters clear all the way to the bottom. 
That is what I think genius is like.

It means we must stop churning and come to rest in stillness, at least sometimes.  During those times, if we practice them frequently enough, we will be able to see clearly to our center, to that spirit of place that resides in us all.  
 
The wonderful thing is we are all capable of being a genius.  All it takes is a certain weariness with trying to be things we aren’t and the courage to be what we are.

And then to write from that place.  
 
Writing Prompt:  
Think of a time when you were proud of yourself.  When you did more than you thought you were capable of.  Tell me about it.  Write for ten minutes.