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Jessica
Years ago I came across a story told about Dr. Louis Agassiz, a distinguished naturalist, who spoke to an obscure spinster woman in London after one of his lectures. She had approached him to insist that she never was given a chance to become more than what she had become. In response to her comment he said: “Do you say, madam, you never had a chance? What do you do?” “I am single and help my sister run a boarding house.” “What do you do?” he asked. “I skin potatoes and chop onions.” He said, “Madam, where do you sit during these interesting but homely duties?” “On the bottom step of the kitchen stairs.” “Where do your feet rest?” “On the glazed brick.” “What is glazed brick?” “I don’t know, sir.” He said, “How long have you been sitting there?” She said, “Fifteen years.” “Madam, here is my personal card,” said Dr. Agassiz. “Would you kindly write me a letter concerning the nature of a glazed brick?” “She took him seriously. She went home and explored the dictionary and discovered that a brick was a piece of baked clay. That definition seemed too simple to send to Dr. Agassiz, so after the dishes were washed, she went to the library and in an encyclopedia read that a glazed brick is vitrified kaolin and hydrous aluminum silicate. She didn’t know what that meant, but she was curious and found out. She took the word vitrified and read all she could find about it. Then she visited museums. She moved out of the basement of her life and into a new world on the wings of vitrified. And having started, she took the word hydrous, studied geology, and went back in her studies to the time when God started the world and laid the clay beds. One afternoon she went to a brickyard, where she found the history of more than 120 kinds of bricks and tiles, and why there have to be so many. Then she sat down and wrote thirty-six pages on the subject of glazed brick and tile.” Then came a letter from Dr. Agassiz: “Dear Madam, this is the best article I have ever seen on the subject. If you will kindly change the three words marked with asterisks, I will have it published and pay you for it.” Not long after came a letter and $250, written on the bottom of the letter was this query: “What was under those bricks?” She had learned the value of time and answered with a single word: “Ants.” He wrote back and said, “Tell me about the ants.” That query about ants turned into a 360 page report that was later published. We often spend so much time staring at the sky waiting to place our star among them, that we overlook the opportunities where we are sitting. Find what you are passionate about and let it lead you to your success. I love Albert Einstein’s quote, “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” Let us all be “passionately curious” and discover our own hidden talents and gifts this year.
Years ago I came across a story told about Dr. Louis Agassiz, a distinguished naturalist, who spoke to an obscure spinster woman in London after one of his lectures. She had approached him to insist that she never was given a chance to become more than what she had become. In response to her comment he said: “Do you say, madam, you never had a chance? What do you do?” “I am single and help my sister run a boarding house.” “What do you do?” he asked. “I skin potatoes and chop onions.” He said, “Madam, where do you sit during these interesting but homely duties?” “On the bottom step of the kitchen stairs.” “Where do your feet rest?” “On the glazed brick.” “What is glazed brick?” “I don’t know, sir.” He said, “How long have you been sitting there?” She said, “Fifteen years.” “Madam, here is my personal card,” said Dr. Agassiz. “Would you kindly write me a letter concerning the nature of a glazed brick?” “She took him seriously. She went home and explored the dictionary and discovered that a brick was a piece of baked clay. That definition seemed too simple to send to Dr. Agassiz, so after the dishes were washed, she went to the library and in an encyclopedia read that a glazed brick is vitrified kaolin and hydrous aluminum silicate. She didn’t know what that meant, but she was curious and found out. She took the word vitrified and read all she could find about it. Then she visited museums. She moved out of the basement of her life and into a new world on the wings of vitrified. And having started, she took the word hydrous, studied geology, and went back in her studies to the time when God started the world and laid the clay beds. One afternoon she went to a brickyard, where she found the history of more than 120 kinds of bricks and tiles, and why there have to be so many. Then she sat down and wrote thirty-six pages on the subject of glazed brick and tile.” Then came a letter from Dr. Agassiz: “Dear Madam, this is the best article I have ever seen on the subject. If you will kindly change the three words marked with asterisks, I will have it published and pay you for it.” Not long after came a letter and $250, written on the bottom of the letter was this query: “What was under those bricks?” She had learned the value of time and answered with a single word: “Ants.” He wrote back and said, “Tell me about the ants.” That query about ants turned into a 360 page report that was later published. We often spend so much time staring at the sky waiting to place our star among them, that we overlook the opportunities where we are sitting. Find what you are passionate about and let it lead you to your success. I love Albert Einstein’s quote, “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” Let us all be “passionately curious” and discover our own hidden talents and gifts this year.
"I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious."