Genius. What's the formula?

When I grow up, I want to be a genius!

I've always associated genius with 'superior intellect' and 'vast knowledge'. Something waaaay out there, completely unattainable, something reserved soley for a few 'chosen ones' - one of them certainly not being me, that's for sure. But then I was thinking about how any genius came to be and what exactly it means to be one. Did they really wake up in the morning and nonchalantly decided they must be one of these 'chosen ones'? Did they have everything in life given to them on a silver platter and barely have to lift a finger to achieve what they did? I know we all know the answer to that! Most of them had difficult childhoods, were poor, a little eccentric perhaps, definitely not mainstream and maybe weren't even given the genius title till after they were long gone and dead, their works only discovered then. They fought and persevered, they didn't give up, they had a dream and come hell or high water they were going to do everything in their power to get as close as they could, they would die trying.

Obviously most of these guys who the world pretty much idolize today had to be born with special gifts or talents, but is it possible that elements of genius are there in all of us? Maybe it's in there, laying dormant, just waiting for us to tap into it. Sadly, it seems that the majority of mankind thinks they have nothing to give, or maybe they know it but the price is just too high and they aren't willing to pay it. Maybe they're scared? Scared to fail, scared of the opinions of others? Can't really put your finger on just what it is, but evidence shows that the average person is just living an average life, achieving average goals, just trying to keep up with the Jones'. But that's them, what about you? Actually, what about me? My problem is that I don't KNOW just yet what my dream is. It might not be anything grandiose or maginifcent, but I have something! I must have something. I need to find out what it is and then.............. begin. boldly.

My posts seem to sound so idealistic and almost farfetched! Ecchhh. To me it's real and realsitic - I have high hopes I guess, high hopes for myself. I want to grow up, but I want carry the spirit of childhood into maturity.

To the dreamers - I salute you - I hope find mine soon

A poor start in life can be the gift of brilliance. (The Sunday Times) What does it take to become a creative genius? How do people come to have breakthroughs that change the direction of science, art and history? One way to find out is to re-examine the careers of undeniably great artists, writers, scientists and thinkers, to see if they have anything in common. Psychologists have come up with some surprising findings.

For a start, geniuses do not always come from stable, happy, affluent backgrounds. One study of important creators found that a fifth of them had lost one or both parents in childhood. Tolstoy, Michelangelo, Raphael, Bach, Wagner and Chaplin are among the many who lost parents before they were 10 years old. Creative greats are more than three times more likely to have suffered this misfortune than their contemporaries in the general population.

Another study of great creators by psychologist Victor Goetzels found that three-quarters of them came from families marred not just by untimely deaths, but also by poverty, divorce, abuse, alcoholism or bankruptcy.

Whatever their motives, the thing that puts creative greats in a class apart is their terrifying productivity. Picasso had 20,000 works to his name by the time he died. Edison had 1,093 patents. But the output of a creative great is rarely even. Psychologist Dean Keith Simonton has found that the most successful creators in western culture are also the ones who have the most failures to their names. What makes them different is that they refuse to be put off by these failures, and use them instead to fuel their biggest successes.

Childhood or childishness played an important part in their outlook. Einstein often pointed out that all children asked the sort of questions that had led him to his most important discoveries. What made him different from other adults is that he had never stopped.