6 Clues From A Prodigy That Will Excel Your Personal Growth
Improbable Lessons from a Ten-Year-Old Virtuoso
--
If you missed the story, there is a girl in England who played classical compositions on the piano and violin, at age three — very well.
At age six, she composed — classical music.
At age ten, she wrote an entire opera — for each instrument in the orchestra.
The CBS 60 Minute’s piece on twelve-year-old Alma Deutscher opens with, “We cannot explain what you are about to hear. Science doesn’t know enough about the brain to make sense of Alma.”
Realize, the 60 Minutes show is down one (Charlie Rose, the sexual harasser), but they’re up one (Oprah Winfrey, champion of the people). If Oprah, with her decades of interviews of spiritual types, can’t explain Alma, then let me give it a shot.
Alma is way up there, with the rest of us hovering far, far below. Is there a lesson from her that can infiltrate our non-prodigy brains?
Creativity is a gift. It doesn’t come through if the air is cluttered. –John Lennon
According to Mr. Lennon we must clear the air to get our creativity rolling. In case you were reaching for a can of Febreze, it’s not that, or every staffer at Bath and Body Works would side hustle for start-ups.
But because we are all human, and Alma at least dresses like one, we might have more of a connection to her than 60 Minutes thinks.
After all, 60 Minutes had to have been intimidated by little Alma in this exchange:
CBS’s Scott Pelley: “Alma, some people say you are the second Mozart.”
Miss Deutscher, with the easy 3-pointer from the back court, “I imagine myself the first Alma.”
After that, CBS gave up attempting to explain Alma’s exceptional-status lest they got hurt in the process.
Clue 1
It’s your job to keep your inner self clear so that creativity can come through. Don’t expect people to do it for you. Represent. Don’t let people label you or put words in your mouth.
Clue 2
Block their crap before you get contaminated. Politely set their ass straight. Almaize them. It’s the new mic drop.
Notice How Alma Is Do, Do, Do. She Is Victim-Shaming all of Us.
We all go around with our stories from the ‘hood.
Too young/too old
Not enough jobs
It takes too long to learn new skills
It’s too hard to break through and get noticed/famous/popular
Nobody’s hiring “my type”
Blaaaaaah, blahdy, blah, blah.
While we’re on story overload, here’s Alma’s roll.
Alma saw a need and went in.
The whole “Cinderella being picked by the Prince because she had the right shoe size” wasn’t happening for Alma.
So, she did what creative types do: she created an entire opera about Cinderella with better messaging and got it performed on two continents.
Yeah. Mic drop. Cinderella got Almaized.
Clue 3
When you keep your internal air clear, your thinking sharpens and becomes profound. You know your next step. You can see it and execute. Your inner creativity is helping you get there.
Alma also hired musicians, told the conductor how to conduct her opera (thank you), and because she is the boss (while we talk about how to be the boss), she featured herself playing the piano and violin in her own gig.
And she wore pink.
Clue 4
Learn to play the piano and violin. Kidding. Do not whine and say “Alma’s different.”
Admit we’ve downloaded too many victim stories. Go to internal settings and delete them. They’re clogging you up.
Then go to do action. Learn skills. Create a job for yourself. Wear a pink dress while doing so.
What Do You Think Alma Would Advise Us if Someone — Say a Professor of Music at Northwestern — Tried to Trick Us with Advanced Material to See Us Slip up and Fail?
Easy. You complete the assignments without breaking sweat AND you improve on one assignment, Almaizing the professor to teach him a lesson.
In her case, Alma improved on a piece of Mozart.
At age six, in case you were wondering.
I know — she’s age-shaming us now, but just stand up and take it.
Clue 5
Nothing is impossible. Everything is possible. If you see the world that way, so it shall be.
If the CBS Crew Breaks for Lunch, and You’re Keeping Your Inner Channel Open for Creativity, Do You (A) Have Lunch Too, Because You Deserve a Break, or (B) Sing the Opera Melodies That Flood Your Brain without a Care As to Who Sees/Hears You, or (C) Worry About What Others Might Think?
Yes, grasshopper, choice (B) all the way.
Most of us, even run-of-the-mill twelve-year-olds, would self-censor, not allowing ourselves the freedom to sing out loud when everyone was on break.
Why?
Because of our obsession with choice (C)— what others might think of us.
We might interrupt their meal. They might think we’re a weirdo. We need to conform and fit into society; right? We shouldn’t draw attention to ourselves, I don’t even know who I am — nobody introduced me, etc.
Well, study up here because Alma is so above our fray, she cultivates her open channel anywhere and anytime.
I bet if she’d been asked, “Alma, as you walk around the grassy knoll singing opera loudly while we eat, are you not worried that you don’t fit in with the rest of us?”
To which Alma would retort, “I quite imagine that one day everyone will put their creativity first.”
Alma knows better than to take a break. We take breaks and get lulled into the sofa for extended periods of time with the bright-shiny-object of our time: the cellphone. Alma’s out there setting the world on fire.
Clue 6
Taking breaks lulls you into more breaks and soon you’re clogged up with victim justification for nonstop breaks. Once your wheels get going with fulfilling activities you find your work joyfully playful.
It’s not well known, but creativity can be perpetual, not occasional, like an asteroid passing close to the Earth.
Conclusion
Alma is an extraordinary person with extraordinary clarity.
What greatness could you share? How could you Almaize your world?
As she said, “I’m a happy person and I want others to have happiness too.”
Find your happiness. And then go share it.
I imagine you doing that today.
