The barista’s fiancé was standing at her station when I went to grab my coffee (iced Philtered Soul, Philz way). I’ve met him before and we’ve briefly chatted a few times, but mostly just courtesy small talk. This time, there was no line behind us, so I lingered.
“How’s your week been?”
He mentioned that he had just visited a very unique shop where he’d been able to play 20 different violins, some dating back 300 years. Not my thing, but an open door.
“So, you play the violin?”
Juilliard. The dude played at Juilliard—the pinnacle of schools for musicians.
I asked more questions. I listened with genuine interest. Turns out, he’s played the violin in Carnegie Hall. Kind of a big deal.
He lit up talking about his passion, and what was clearly his hidden genius.
Today, he’s an audio engineer, working on video games and movies and things. But he still plays the violin a few minutes everyday. I told him that I’d love to hear him play sometime and we parted ways. It felt good. We had stumbled upon a connection. Not because I care about the violin, necessarily, but because he does—a lot. And I get energy from someone who is radiating enthusiasm for their hidden genius. It’s inspiring.
And everyone has something. A passion… a secret joy… a subtle way of looking at things differently… a unique capacity for being great in an unexpected way… maybe even a steady consistency that gives them strength in a variety of areas. I consider that a gift—or genius—too.
Uncover their hidden genius. They’ll light up, and it will fuel you up.