What is it to be brilliant

Recently, I was flipping through this book that contained quotes from various famous people regarding their own neurotic behaviors and tendencies. This is what caught my eye:

"I can sympathize with people's pains, but not with their pleasures. There is something curiously boring about somebody else's happiness."

Such a simple statement. Such an obvious observation of human nature. But, how true is it?

Do you ever hear something, and when you do, it seems so obvious in its truth, and yet you didn't think of it beforehand?

This strikes me as the core of what a brilliant (creative) person does. They notice something that exists in the world and synthesize a statement or observation about it. It seems quite profound that the ability to notice the obvious could be such a key element to creative brilliance.

My first time

Writing this, my first blog, I realize that I have never really attempted to express my thoughts through the written word. Sure, I've written countless pages during k-12, undergraduate, and graduate education. But, other than a few isolated occurrences, my writing has never been purely to express myself, without some sort of formal education related prompt. Honestly, I'm not really sure why. It's certainly not the case that I suffer a shortage of thoughts pertaining to, what I would consider, worthy topics. Perhaps laziness is the best answer. Without question, I find this to be unacceptable.

So, this, my first blog, is a commitment to learning to express myself in new ways. I'm optimistic that through my ramblings I might synthesize (from my life experiences, education and reading) something worthwhile. With such a goal in mind, excitement follows.

(insert catchy catchphrase)