When our son was growing up, I didn’t worry about why his mind so often appeared occupied, because usually he was thinking about numbers. But not always.
Once, it the midst of a cello lesson I was attempting to give him, I noticed he apparently wasn’t paying attention to me. He had the gift of ability to do many things on the cello after just a few tries—not typical in my 20 years’ teaching experience. But that day, he couldn’t seem to play well, much less pay attention. So I asked him what the problem was.
He was then about 6, old enough to be learning woodworking from his father, something he loved.
He replied, “It’s not the playing that’s hard; it’s the paying attention. Today, working in the wood shop with Daddy is calling so loudly that I can’t hear anything else.”
This was a revelation to me, but more information was coming.
A Case of Brilliance 