Reason to Dance

Have you ever given a pep talk? Have you ever needed a pep talk? I found out that I need one the other day when I listened to Kid President. How convenient that the title of his message is I think we all need a pep talk, I guess I walked right into that one.

At first, I thought, here is a cute little kid pretending to be the president, but once I listened to him I realized, this kid really has something of importance to say. He started right from the beginning letting me know that I needed to stop being boring because that is something easy that everyone could do. He said that life is not a game but if it is, then we need to all be playing for the same team, and the way we play is by simply getting up and doing something. I also loved the way he added a portion of Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken. He said, the road that was less taken hurt and basically scolded Frost because of it. He ended his speech by saying it is everyone’s job, duty as he put it, to give the world a reason to dance. A reason to dance? I could understand if he said give them something to dance to, but instead he said a “reason” to dance. I had to stop and think about that for second.

Since music is what I love, I focus on making music the backdrop of life, the musical score to life’s events, but I had never thought about it being the reason. Now Frost’s poem made even more sense to me. Taking the easy road would be providing music. The road less traveled, the painful, rocky, lonely, unpredictable road would force me to reach deep and take chances. That is scary, hence the reason it is the road less traveled.

I found myself now facing a decision and thinking, how did this little kid get me to thinking so hard. Chris Anderson’sTED talk was right about the web’s power of crowd accelerated innovation which is a self-fueling cycle of learning that could be as significant as the invention of print. Because of this video, a global community has opened up for Kid President and here I am contemplating giving people a reason to dance.

I have to admit, Kid President was right, it was time for a pep talk even if I did not know I needed it. I could sit here and be boring or I could take Frost’s road and make the world awesome. I can and I will do my duty to give the world a reason to dance. Thanks for the pep talk Kid President!