I’ve been pondering for some months around the notion of greatness. When you meet someone who is exceptionally well-versed in what they do, that feeling of awe mixed with admiration for this person is easy to recognise. You marvel at their existence and the chance to be around them, wondering about the inner-workings of their brain that lifted them to the heights they soar at. I’m sure we’ve met folks that fall in this tier in some way or another. Then, there are others, of course, who we’ve not met but admired from afar including your favourite sportsperson, musician, actor etc. The list goes on.
In short: greatness is almost impossible to ignore.
But how about those yet to be great?
The thought that lingers in my brain isn’t around zooming into the period of someone’s greatness but rather capturing the first time someone believed in them to become great, someday. The significance of that moment alone is a phenomenon that you can neither replicate nor manufacture. It also holds no guarantee to be easily traded for greatness, being present only as an extension of someone’s attention encapsulating something between them. A guess that is equal parts conviction and a wish.
I’m convinced we don’t talk enough about this arc in our stories, especially as adults. Were all our interactions to occur knowing that greatness is just as much in the ordinary as it is in the established — we would seek out all the feelings preceding marvel.
Until next time,
Riz