Being yourself is enough…
What is a genius? What constitutes a genius? Or rather what are the conditions of genius?
I claim everyone and no one is always already a genius. I’ll explain.
It seems obvious enough, that the conditions of genius, whatever they are, underlie the poet, prophet, and philosopher. And yet, the tasks of poetry and prophet and philosopher are distinct, obviously different.
But that the poet, prophet, and philosopher is a genius is obvious too. Isn’t genius, the creative power, the essence of poetry, prophecy, and philosophy? Is genius essential?
Perhaps, genius is anti-essential? Then what is, the role, and the situation of the genius?
The term Genius dates back to Late Middle English, which derives from the Latin. It meant “attendant spirit present from one’s birth, innate ability or inclination” and “beget” and also “spirit attendant on a person” or “a person’s natural ability.”
After that description of the origin of the term and different but similar meanings and uses, let’s consider some concrete examples.
1) Homer the poet, was seen to better then other poets, which were worse. Possessing genius. But what was the conditions of poetry, of being genius? For the Greeks the genius is possessed by the gods, which inspire and move one to poetize. So Homer was possessed by genius, by poetry, i.e. creativity.
2) Jeremiah the prophet, was called by God to prophesy to the nations. The story goes, Jeremiah was called as a youth, but ordained before birth to be a prophet. The spirit of prophecy moved Jeremiah to speak the word of God to the people of Israel in exile.
3) Socrates the philosopher, was declared the wisest by the oracle at Delphi. Socrates had a daimonion, accompanying spirit that kept him from untruth, the bad… Thus the philosopher was moved to philosophize: to interrogate others for truth.
But what essence can be gather from Homer, Jeremiah, or Socrates? I claim no essence of genius. To be sure, the poet, prophet, and philosopher has creative power! Uses creativity!
But what is the genius? who? the conditions?
The genius is the poet, the prophet, the philosopher. They are born. They become. You are or your not.
It is something you are, more than something you do. Being proceeds doing. But becoming is being.
The genius is something you always already are. You must look within. Eyes in head, heart. Who are you? Not, what do you do?
The poet is something you are. The prophet is something you are. The philosopher is something you are.
Genius is a matter of nature and nurture. It’s innate, and culture, or cultivation.
The conditions of genius, are the originality, individuality, persona, style, which are innate, inherent in you: don’t try to be someone else. Try to be yourself.
Be yourself! This is always already genius. This is enough.
fragments of philosophy 