When most people hear the word genius, they think of a brilliant person. Everyone’s automatic assumption is that the word means a very smart person. But Thomas Armstrong’s definition of genius is different.
Thomas Armstrong wrote a book called "Awakening Genius", defining his meaning of genius. His meaning of genius is “giving birth to one’s joy”. He explains his 12 basic qualities of genius, which are Curiosity, Playfulness, Imagination, Creativity, Wonder, Wisdom, Inventiveness, Vitality, Sensitivity, Flexibility, Humor, and Joy.
The word I can mostly relate to is Imagination. My imagination is very out there. When I brainstorm, I think about everything that can happen at that particular moment. A lot of people have told me, “Wow, you have a wild imagination.” When I walk out of my apartment building and see a helicopter, I imagine myself being in the helicopter and looking down at everyone, “Wow, what a sight.”
In school sometimes when I’m bored I imagine a whole bunch of weird things. Like I picture someone tripping and everyone laughing, I say to my self, “What would happen if someone fell down the stairs, what would happen to them and what would they do? I picture myself graduating from college and starting a professional life for myself.
Another quality of my genius is humor. A lot of people tell me I'm really funny. This is one of the reasons a lot of people consider me their best friend. I know how to make people laugh. No matter how they feel I know what to say to cheer them up. Like when I'm at work and some one comes in looking sad, I try to cheer them up no matter what it takes, whether it be one of my co-workers or a customer.
In school my humor has gotten me in trouble more than a few times. For taking jokes too far in class, I've been suspended, given detention I never served, everything. I took a joke so far that the whole school knew about it without even knowing who i was. In my old school I was considered the class clown that I was dumb and didn't know anything. When they saw my regents scores, their opinions about me changed. Because I was a class clown, they thought I was dumb, but they saw that I don't stress school, and I try my best to enjoy myself in all environments.
A lot Of people describe joy as a feeling of great pleasure, such as winning a championship or graduating from school. Knowing that I'm going to graduate in June brings me a lot of joy. Being surrounded by my friend on a daily basis brings me a lot of joy. I have a lot of joy in my life. I didn't before, but now I do. I wake up everyday happy, tired, but happy. I have a loving mother and family who is always behind me, I'm in school trying to graduate, I'm making money. For now I have nothing to worry about. Things like this bring me joy.
People are sometimes intimidated by my physical stature. Little do they know I'm still sometimes sensitive at times. This is my 4th quality of my genius. When I see a little old lady walking with her 1,000 shopping bags, I get that feeling of pity, so I know I have to help her out. Same goes for work. At work when my co-workers need help or if they need me to cover their shifts, I try my best to help them out. Some people say it's being gullible, but I just call it being a good person in life, being considerate.
When people hear the work genius they imagine a super smart person who knows everything. But this isn't the only definition of genius. A genius can be defined as a person who changes people lives with their humor or with their creativity or by simply just bringing joy into another persons life, or even being sensitive as making hot chocolates for little kids. Genius isn't limited to just being smart.
