8. I am a genius, too.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is rightly called a child prodigy and musical genius. At seven years of age, his compositions and his piano and violin performances had already made him a legend. How? How did it happen? 

Like all of us, Mozart, was born designed for language. Music happens to be a language. There was nothing extraordinary in the fact that he could hear, comprehend and copy the sounds of language. It was unique, however, that he was exposed to far more than his mother tongue, German. Raised in a family of musical performers, he was surrounded from his infancy by the language of music…music remarkably well expressed, and he had a father who was a gifted teacher. The young Mozart was guided and instructed as he learned to understand the language of music such that he could write it, and create sounds, not with his voice alone, but with his arms, hands and fingers on instruments as extensions of his own body. 

I am so grateful the world was given a Mozart. I love his music. It is delightful, orderly, interesting, enchanting and soul-satisfying. Yet, I personally believe that Mozart’s capacity for language was no greater than the average person’s. Let me explain.

As part of one of my required courses in college, I learned about the patterns associated with human language development. I thought, originally, the class would be rather pointless and uninteresting—just another hoop to jump through toward graduation. I did not expect to be given a perspective on human nature that would influence me profoundly for years to come.  In that simple class, I learned to marvel the complexity of skill required for human language development: the nuances of sound (understood and replicated), the volume of words that make up a typical vocabulary (thousands upon thousands), the analyzation of syntax and grammar (understood, used and, often, humorously overgeneralized, and equally often, self-corrected). I came to believe everyone who is able to communicate through spoken language is a genius. 

That bit of knowledge changed my perspective of my future students, my family, my children, myself, friends, even strangers. It was paradigm-shifting.

You are a genius. It is true. Believe it. You proved yourself a genius as a child who learned to hear, comprehend and copy the sounds of language, just like Mozart.  What will you do with the knowledge that you have already developed such incredible skills? 

You are a fully capable human being. No matter how you are suffering right now, no matter how broken, you are someone who possesses remarkable ability. How will believing that piece of truth help you heal?