Magnolia

There is a classical radio station here in Korea that is part of the national Korean Broadcasting System (KBS). Suhee and I often have it on at the studio, especially in the mornings. The announcers are usually quite interactive, responding on air to thoughts, questions, and sometimes stories from listeners around the country.

The morning host is especially talkative, to the point where I sometimes say aloud things like “I could have sworn we were listening to a music station Suhee. Who turned on the talk radio?” Suhee ignores me. She likes this announcer, and this morning she told me the story that this announcer recounted. I haven’t complained about his talking since she told me this story, because what he said actually gave me great faith in humanity, and that feels more important these days than ever.

Apparently, a young schoolboy listens to KBS Classic with his mother every morning. This boy knows that people often call in to the station with important stories or thoughts, and that the announcer picks the most important ones and shares them. So it is completely natural that this young boy told his mother one morning “Mom! The Magnolia tree at our school is blooming today and it is so beautiful!” and that after this, he added “You need to tell the KBS Classic announcer about it!” which his mother dutifully did.

That story from the young boy – who admired a blossoming tree with his classmates and teachers at the onset of spring – reached the whole country this morning.

When the announcer reported the story, he added a thought, as he usually does.

“A lot of us rush to boast about things in our life. These days that boasting is often about our financial success, or some new fancy thing we just bought.” The host paused for some time, and you could feel the weight of what he said sinking in, as he continued “What if instead we rushed to boast about the flowers that were in bloom in our neighborhood, and how the sight or smell of them brightened our day?”

If the world is made of the stories we tell each other, this is the kind of world I want to live in.

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This particular radio broadcast was streamed live on YouTube, and you can watch and listen (in Korean) here:

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Question: What flowers are blooming in your neighborhood right now?

Another Story: The ecological vitality of Seoul is beloved by its citizens, but often underestimated by visitors. How underestimated? Imagine that, in the most densely populated city in the developed world, people walk to work through a forest instead of driving…

PHOTO ESSAY: Seoul and The Call of the Urban Wild (Part I)

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