Author, storyteller, and philosopher Michael Meade was in town this week and spoke/performed to a packed house at the Owen Brown Interfaith Center. It was a challenging and inspiring evening, and at the end he received a standing ovation. We are so fortunate to have locals who help create these events. Thank you Michael Phillips of Four Gates Wellness Center for making this happen!

I particularly liked Michael Meade’s message this time, his third visit to Columbia, that we all have genius within us. This is the subject of his latest book The Genius Myth. He points out that the challenge of course is to find our inner genius and then use it to create a better world. Michael points out that this is our life’s work.

He concluded that once we find and use our own genius, it is then our responsibility, as the elders of our community, to mentor the younger members in their search for their hidden genius. I find mentoring an increasingly important and a very rewarding part of the work that I do. It is challenging work. One never knows what effect we have on others. But listening, asking questions, and giving others space to better understand themselves is priceless.

Meade, through the Mosaic Multicultural Foundation, runs workshops each year where he works with disenfranchised youth. As I understand from the people that I know who have attended these events, all of the participants come out inspired and many return the next year. I hope that we can find ways to work with our local youth and help them bring their gifts to our community.

There is so much that each of us has to offer and in fact needs to offer to effect change in our society.  We need to find and encourage all members of our community to find their genius and participate in improving our society, one person at a time.This is especially true with regard to the environment and saving the places we love. Each of us will have to use our gifts, our genius, to recognize the impacts of our actions and help lead the change to a more sustainable future.