Young Tom Edison

So, you really want to know what it’s like to be an inventor? I wish I had a dollar for every time someone asked me, “what’s it like to be an inventor?” as if there’s some glamour to this profession! Watching the 1940 movie, Young Tom Edison, will give anyone a glimpse of what it’s like to be an idea person and inventor. The scene that moves me most is where Tom conducts an experiment at school, creates a lot of smoke in a backroom, all the while the town thinks the school house is on fire only to learn that Tom is back to his ole tricks of experimenting. The part that saddens me is the outcries of criticism from the townspeople, his classmates, and especially the school teacher.

Gee…I can certainly relate to both of these scenes. While I have not created smoke as an inventor, I know what it’s like to continue experimenting because I’m determined to figure out an idea. And while I have not been laughed at by my peers, on a couple occasions I’ve encountered in-my-face sarcasm. Funny about the sarcastic hecklers, they were both men of the same generation. Go figure – my research hat personality is curious to know the real root cause of their unruly behavior, however I prefer to focus on the plethora of Messy Face® supporters and the hundreds of times I’ve heard “that’s a great idea!”

Something else to remember about being an inventor is that we’re people who can see possibilities out of nothing. And in the movie, Tom continues to be self-motivated to develop more inventions regardless of the level of support from society. Well, we all know how Edison’s story ends….every day we experience the convenience of Edison’s inventions…and I wonder what those hecklers of Edison would be saying now?

Like Tom’s mom said, “something tells me that someday they’ll understand him the way we do.” So, next time you meet an inventor – just try to see what they see; it might spark something in you and before you know it, you too might be an idea-inventor!