Political science professor, Robert E. Kelly’s interview went viral this week. But probably not for the reasons he was hoping.
Sure he’s an intelligent expert who knows a lot about South Korean politics.
So, naturally, the BBC invited him on as a guest.
In this virtually-dominated world, where everything is photo-shopped ”“ from our abs to our smiles to our moods to our vacations ”“ and where so much of media advertising is about clever sound bites and catchy, provocative blurbs ”“ how refreshing that life still happens. Not fabricated or polished or put together in a pretty package.
But unscripted.
Mistakes occur. You fall down. You cry. You start laughing when you shouldn’t. You have meltdowns. You get caught in the awkwardness that is life itself, unrehearsed and unplanned. The way life is and always will be, no matter how hard we try to orchestrate and spin things in a more controlled way.
And throw a toddler into the mix and everything goes to shit.
Let kids ”“ or some connection to something besides your own self-importance ”“ keep you tethered to all that’s good and true. Children show us that.
A light heart. A smile. A sense of humor. An understanding that what we do isn’t really important. How we do it, however ”“ the intention and motivation and presence behind something ”“ is.
Let kids show us how to play and let go of results. Let them show us how it’s about this moment right now. Not about our future plans or our talking points or how much we “know” or how cool we wish to look.
It’s about the incredible wildness of not knowing ”“ of discovering ”“ and falling into that wonderful chaos that the uncontrollability of life presents.
Once you “know”, there’s a sort of deadness to living. Unless you’re willing to throw away your “rightness” to learning and staying open, life can become gray and routine. How do you stay uncertain of your certainty? That’s a more brave and wild way to move through the world.
You can see Professor Kelly receive a Master Class in learning to live in joy and abandon (and letting go of control) by watching his video that went viral here.
With the disturbing news that seems to constantly fill our heads these days, I think it’s the best interview the BBC has done in a long, long time.