You Are More Free Than You Think

I was watching an interview NBA Superstar Victor Wembanyama had with current NBA coach JJ Redick 2 years ago. Of course, at that time Wembanyama had not stepped foot on the NBA floor yet and JJ Redick was not a coach. He was a podcaster talking about life in the NBA and interviewing current players. Wembanyama in this interview gave a lesson of life many people miss. Victor was asked if he felt any pressure before he steps on the court due to the hype about him being one of the best prospects of all time. Victor's answer was that he didn't feel any pressure because he "tries to live free and have a free mind at all times".

He also said the way he plays is how he has wanted to play his whole life, and nothing can change that. This was rare coming from a then 19-year-old, but it also showed how wise he was at that age.  The moment I want to elaborate on is when he talked about "remembering that he is free in the universe and does whatever he can". He said, "he knows what he wants to do, and nothing is going to stop him". He illustrated that it wasn't just about basketball but life itself and I think it is something we don't realize. JJ Redick and his other host were surprised to hear this kind of wisdom in which JJ himself said he wishes he was free in the Universe in which Wembanyama replied "You are".

This is the kind of enlightenment a lot of people never find but it was amazing a 19-year-old at that time had already mastered it. No matter what our circumstance in life no one is can take away our freedom to choose. We can choose to do what we want in this life and that is something we often take for granted. Nothing can happen in our world without our permission and a lot of times we give this away. Victor talked about being driven and always trying to be different and we can express ourselves in every way we can. The world is the canvas, and we are artists.

I wrote about a theory called Dramaturgy by Erving Goffman a month or 2 ago in which the theme of the theory is the world is a stage, and we humans are actors in which we can conform to the stage we are in. How we are in private is different from how we present ourselves in public and have the freedom to adapt to our specific environment. What we can do is live life the best way we can and to the fullest because we never know when a moment will be our last.