geniuses or být sama sebou

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“All the people we call ‘geniuses’ are men and women who somehow escaped having to put that curious, wondering child in themselves to sleep.”

=

Barbara She

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být sama sebou

–

<Czech>:

be yourself

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Ok.

Let me tell you what I think a genius is.

The great contextual thinkers.

Even more genius?

They have figured out being yourself is the key to being a great contextual thinker <because today’s world is not particularly kind to those whose main skill is putting random disparate pieces together>.

Regardless.

These are the everyday brilliant people we know.
Uhm.

And, yes, I truly mean the ones we know.

I say that because I am not talking about the Harvard MBA or the Rhodes Scholar or even the Mensa member geniuses … not the academic smarts titled folk <albeit I would imagine most of them are brilliant in some form or fashion> … but the true geniuses.

The common everyday people who are also contextual thinkers. The ones who put ideas together that make you say ‘holy shit that is a good idea’ <and “I have no idea how to make it happen” it in your head at exactly the same time>.

We cannot undervalue these people.

Now.

As for the ‘being yourself’ aspect.

In my experience … most of these everyday genius type people are flawed in some way … which makes it easy for us to ignore them … and incredibly difficult for them to accept themselves and, hence, be who they are.

We tend to ignore them in their flawedness and struggle to accept their skills. We tend to shove them in some corner and leave them alone to their own wacky devices.

Which is a little odd <in a way> because these geniuses are actually almost useless independently.

Huh?

Yup.

They have more in some ways … less in others … and when integrated into some ‘together’ group … well … they not only become more than enough they become ‘more.’ And, yet, we assess them based on flaws and ignore them as great contextual thinkers.

We far too often slot great thinkers into random niches of ‘here is what they are good at’ or ‘too flawed to be the ideal employee or teammate.’

Geniuses are actually the best team players you can find.

Uhm.

But maybe not under the traditional team player definition.

They may not like other people <a lot>, they may not always work well with everyone, they may chafe people <because their genius is basically all about screwing with other people’s ideas and roles>.

———

“Because you never had much and I probably had even less, but what we had together was more than enough.”

=

it was enough until it wasn’t

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Regardless.

Where geniuses have their largest issues is actually with ‘being yourself.’

I get asked to write about this a lot.

I almost always begin with understanding yourself … and understanding consequences.

—–

“You will always be too much of something for someone: too big, too loud, too soft, too edgy.

If you round out your edges, you lose your edge.”

——-

Geniuses struggle with this.

Mainly, I imagine, because they know they are flawed.

Flaws are disconcerting … but interesting.

A genius likes the edge and hates the edge.

It takes a shitload of strength to accept the flaws … and accept the edge.

I thought of this the other day when I read a quote from Hillary Clinton:

==

“I’m a proud woman. I’m not stupid; I know I should do more to suck up to the press. I know it confuses people when I change my hairdos.

I know I have to compromise.

But I’m just not going to.

I’m a complex person and they’re just going to have to live with that. I’m used to winning, and I intend to win on my own terms.”

==
——

Well.

Win on my own terms.

This may be one of the most difficult Life lessons to learn.

Most of us every day schmucks suck at figuring this out erring on the side of too much and too little at exactly the moments when the former should be the latter and the latter should be the former.

And that is the genius of geniuses.

They get the Life formula righter while offering the contextual thinking which we all need.

They get it right while wanting what is right in the moment. And what is right is simple conceptually – something that is undeniable and touches either people or ‘the moment’ <which inevitably impacts people>.

—–

“Don’t you just want to make something that lives forever?

Something that’s phenomenal, something that’s great, something that’s undeniable?

That touches the core of every person that hears it?”

==

Jared Leto

<Artifact>

—

I just wrote about Evil Plans.

I am not sure the geniuses’ we know truly have an Evil Plan of their own …. I tend to believe they just like screwing with other people’s plans.

They see that plans are good but … well … they are good as long as you don’t ignore everything else going on around you. Because inevitably a great plan is defined by what it ends up looking like in hindsight <the rear view mirror> and the attitude and emotion which actually made it happen.

Great plans revolve around those who have ability.

Yeah … yeah … yeah … I buy the importance of team and the fact that one person actually makes it ‘happen’ … but let’s not forget that often one person can actually make it ‘not happen.’

The geniuses I know have an undiminished and unbreakable loyalty to doing the right thing … which is often about breaking up other people’s ideas and putting them back together again in a different way.

Oops.

That is not always conducive to ‘collaboration’ or some type of ‘being part of the team’ in spirit.

And that is where, the geniuses I know, well … být sama sebou … have learned to ‘be yourself.’

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“I don’t need anyone to hold me,

I can hold my own.”

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Ani DiFranco

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We see these geniuses every day … shit … we know many of these geniuses.

Most of them actually lurk in jobs & careers completely unsuited for their ability.

Yup.

They do so for one of two reasons:

<a> society has convinced them this skill they have is not as valuable as some specialty or more measurable output driven task

<b> they have not learned to accept themselves and the ability they have.

Genius or not … many <many> people end up in situations, careers, relationships, experiences … in which they are completely unsuited for.

In general … being yourself is hard … if not just a tricky path to navigate.

In general … being an everyday type genius is difficult … if not just a tricky path to navigate.

———

“What is so wrong with us that we rush into situations to which we are manifestly unsuited, which will hurt us and others?

Why are we given emotions which we cannot control and which move in exact contradiction to what we really want?

We are walking conflicts, internal battles on legs.”

=

Marian Keyes

—

And because it can be difficult & tricky we end up being in situations in which we are manifestly unsuited.

I think many of us would be surprised <if we actually thought about it> how many people are actually in quasi-ill suited situations.

I think many of us would be surprised <if we actually thought about it> how many great contextual thinkers, the geniuses in my eyes, are actually in quasi-ill suited situations.

Anyway.

All I know is that the true every day genius is one with the skill of a great contextual thinker and has learned to be themselves.