Author Michael Meade will present an interactive evening, “Finding Genius Within Your Life,” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 28, at Island Center Hall. Tickets are $12. For more information, visit www.mosaicvoices.org.

These days trouble surrounds us. We brush it back from one direction, and it snarls at our knees from another. A bad economy and environmental hazards compete for our urgent attention. Conflict rumbles below the surface erupting in violence when we least expect it. And that’s just on Bainbridge Island.

“These are unusual times to be alive,” said author Michael Meade.

All the bad news is actually good news, he said, because “great possibilities come from great troubles.”

Meade, who has studied mythology and storytelling for more than 50 years, said the best stories are about finding one’s way through trouble. The solutions don’t come from the outside, he said, but rather from our own genius.

“The best guidance comes from within.”

All well and good if you’re one of the few with a 130 IQ, right?

Meade will present a broader, much older definition of the word “genius” in his talk, “Finding Genius Within Your Life,” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 28, at Island Center Hall.

While our culture reveres intellectual prowess, Meade said emotional capacity and creative curiosity are equally legitimate forms of genius.

In fact, Meade contends that everyone has innate genius.

“It was more about finding your own way of being and your inner guidance,” he said.

Meade made his discoveries working with those who have experienced tremendous difficulty: disenfranchised at-risk youth, battle-scarred veterans and the homeless.

“Now that we’re all in trouble, we all need to access our genius to benefit from its unlikely inspiration,” he said.

Modern society is in the grip of mass homogenization where we are taught to pay attention to what others expect from us rather than reflecting on one’s own life to discover our calling, he said. He pointed to examples of those running for high office.

“They’re inauthentic. You can tell they’re uncomfortable in what they’re seeking,” he said. “They’re not really called to it.”

Part of the reason for that, Meade said, is our confusion about the twin prizes of modern life: fame and fortune. The original definition of fame was “to be seen standing with your genius, revealing it,” he said.

Instead, many mold themselves to what they think will attract the spotlight or approval of others, rather than honor their own authentic expression.

Meade believes the interactive format of the evening will appeal to a broad spectrum of the community, including young people, teachers, psychologists, those in transition and those who want to be, and aging boomers.

“The more older people we have who can find and live from their genius, the more elders we’ll have instead of olders,” he said. “And they will provide more help for younger people.”

Meade is convinced that catalyzing genius can be spread mentor-to-mentor and that every person who crafts a life based on their calling encourages others to take the risk, too.

Each one makes an important contribution to the healing of the whole community.

“People tend to find their own brilliance,” he said. “The good thing is that your calling keeps on calling.”