genius

My Genius

I am a genius. In an excerpt from the book," Awakening Genius", by Dr. Thomas Armstrong, the author goes back to the origins of the word genius and discovers that a persons genius cannot only be discovered by a score on a standardized test. In fact we all have a genius with us. Instead of using societies definition of the word, in the book Armstrong cites the word as," giving birth to ones joy." This means being your self through various ways of expression, doing your personal best in what ever makes you happy. "The genius is a symbol for an individual's potential: all that a person may be that lies locked inside during the years of development." Thomas Armstrong, a renowned educator and psychologist breaks down genius into twelve qualities: curiosity, playfulness, imagination, creativity, wonder, wisdom, inventiveness, vitality, sensitivity, flexibility, humor, and joy.

Creativity and the word genius share the same root meaning: to give birth. According to Dr. Armstrong "creativity designates the capacity to give birth to new ways of looking at things." Creativity is one of the twelve qualities of genius because thinking in an abstract manner can potentially aide one in making value connections between things that may have other wise been seen as unrelated. I believe that I display creativity in both an academic and social setting. In school i display my creativity mostly through writing. When given a writing prompt, whether its, to write a poem, to interpret a quote, or do a book review, I can convey my feelings, emotions and views on a subject eloquently on paper. Often times my feelings or ideas are different from others. I am also creative outside of school as well. I am a good cook, I choreograph jazz and modern dance, and I am great at coming up with arts and crafts projects for my three year old. All of these qualities require a creative nature. When you cook you have to be open to trying new things. When choreographing dance you have to be willing to let loose and let your emotions show through your body movements. My walls are filled with my daughters master pieces, every thing from finger paints, full blown murals of the ocean and collages of various themes.