October 6, 2026- Genius in action

Genius is more often found in a cracked pot than in a whole one.

~EB White

We love brand new things – the new car smell, the un-creased sneakers, the fresh pack of gum, the start of a relationship. We love when things are pristine, fresh out of the package, not yet degraded through use.

The thing is, aren’t those sneakers a lot more comfortable after we’ve broken them in? Life is not meant to be pristine; our bodies and our minds are meant to be lived in. Until they are, we are all knowledge and no wisdom. What is the point of knowledge if we have no ability to apply it? Is genius a matter of potential or does genius require action? If it requires no action, isn’t genius only hypothetical?

We must be willing to put thought to action, even knowing that there will be times when our actions will have faults, and there are times when action will expose faults in our thoughts.

Let’s not let our thoughts be untested prototypes. Let’s be willing to get out and mess some things up. Let’s find holes in our theories. Let’s find errors in our actions. Let’s put creases in our sneakers, wrinkles in our wrappers, and problems in our relationships. Then, let’s discover genius by applying our wisdom to fix it.

Let’s not be a genius in theory; let’s be a genius in action.