When I was in college we did a production of The Miser by Moliere. 

For the lead role we employed the services of a professional actor from The North Carolina Shakespeare Company.  The man was a stitch with his bright red hair and diva tendencies.  I can’t remember his name, but I can remember how he liked to storm around being holier than thou and shouting commands at us, his collegian minions.

At our final run through the show ended and our lighting director couldn’t get the lights to blackout as we had rehearsed.  The silence was deafening as those of us backstage and on stage waited in stillness for the blackout that came three minutes too late. 

As soon as the lights went out “The Miser” shouted, enraged,  ”What are you!? A bunch of MENTAL MIDGETS? I thought you were supposed to be GENIUSES!”

You can imagine the laughter that ensued after that explosion.  We’d seen first-hand someone who was not living up to his own potential and how he’d taken it out on us throughout the rehearsals and from that moment on we all stopped paying deference to this man, and started treating him like he really did belong at good old High Point College, instead of the Royal Shakespeare theater.

When I sat down to write about the Lines of Genius gift marking this memory came crashing out of my subsconscious.  I’ve learned to “go with it” when things like this happen – because my subconsious is generally more on the ball than all the intellectualizing I’d normally do to teach about something like lines of genius.

Lines of Genius appear on the tip of your pinky (Mercury) finger.  (NOTE: I DO NOT HAVE LINES OF GENIUS AND IN MY ORIGINAL POST WAS TRYING TO DESCRIBE WHAT I SEE WHICH IS VERY THREE DIMENSIONAL, IN TWO-DIMENSIONAL TERMS – SO I DEFER to the description penned by Pamelah Landers in her book “Gift Markings” which you can purchase from her sight at http://www.handsoncompany.com)  

“Lines of Genius are three parallel lines on the upper digit of Mercury (pinky).  The lines need to be at least half way up in order to qualify…” <page 47, Gift Markings, by Pamelah Landers>

(lines that run vertically through your finger tip but in the middle are NOT lines of genius).  You need to have three or more for this to be an acutal gift marking.  The first of these lines is close to the outer edge of the pinky.  Do you have these?  (To my experience, they aren’t all that common, but go ahead, look at your pinkies, I’ll wait)

People with the gift marking are known as “The Gifted Author and Speaker with a Special Message for a Large Audience.”  That’s a mouthful.  But the real genius is the ability to take really complex ideas or philosophies and simplify them for the masses.  When you have this gift you KNOW you’re a woman with a message, and you’re drawn to varous types of media — TV, radio, podcasting, a column in the paper!  The way it works is that for you, the “message” just appears when you simply “do it.”  In other words, you’ve been asked to speak on a panel for busy moms struggling with stress and wellness.  You’re a yoga instructor who is also well-versed in more esoteric and alternative healing modalities.  You jot down some notes and head to the event.  When the time comes for you to answer questions and present, the pertinent information just comes to you, in a way that resonates with your specific audience (even though you’re not a mom yourself!)

If you’ve been reading these gift marking posts, you know by now that all gift markings come with a penalty.  The big penalty for you if you have the lines of genius is that feeling of “going nowhere in a hurry!”  You’re constantly spending energy and not seeing any results.  You’ve become addicted to the “busy work,” without focusing on specific message.  Your challenge is to find out what your message is.  I guarantee you it’s going to be unique — either a topic that no one has ever explored, or it’s a completely new way of exploring something “old.”

So if you’ve got those lines on one or both of your pinkies, I challeng you today to start getting clear on your message.  Remember, this is your gift and it’s paramount that you bring your message to the masses — because if you don’t, the message will be lost and never again expressed in exactly the same way!

How about you? Are you a genius?  Are you living with the penalty or have you found a way to express your gifts in a way that helps others?  Share with us here!