Matt, Jane and Me

Recently, Matt Galloway, host of The Current on CBC radio, asked one of his guests, “You mentioned the true authentic person, what does that mean?”

Whenever I am working on a project, I always imagine myself being interviewed by Matt, so when he asked the question, I thought, “How would I answer it?”

Catherine: “The true, authentic person is who we are in action, when connecting meaningfully with others, not as someone we aspire to be but as the person that we naturally are.

Matt: Can you give me an example?

Catherine: “Yes, Jane Goodall. We have all experienced and admired Jane Goodall's ease in remaining calm. She is so consistent with her ability to remain calm; she is often asked in interviews how she does it.

Matt: “How does someone like Jane go about maintaining that natural ability, their true, authentic person?”

Catherine: “The reason Jane can maintain her authenticity is that, unlike most people, as she was coming out of adolescence searching for her identity, she never had to compromise who she was and was never condemned for it because she was surrounded not by humans but by chimpanzees. In fact, by being her natural, calm self, she connected meaningfully with the chimpanzees in a way no one had before. These formative years allowed Jane the opportunity to embody who she was as her true, authentic person, in an isolated environment most of us will never experience, and she spent the next 68 years mastering it.

Matt: “So how do people who did not grow up in a forest maintain their authenticity?

Catherine: “Great question, they have to identify it and master it by being aware when they are and when they are not their true, authentic person through the connections they make.”

Matt: I love your insight. Thank you for joining us today, Catherine.

Catherine: Thank you for having me, Matt.