I CONFESS!!!!!!
I ADMIT IT!!!!!
I HAVE TO COME CLEAN…
I was one of the 3 billion people worldwide who watched and, yes, enjoyed!!!!!
ME!
Cynical, rational me…
I am referring of course to the Royal Wedding of Prince William, already balding heir to the throne of England, and commoner (what unites us all) Kate Middleton, whose parents are Internet entrepreneurs.
See? In the telling I am getting a slightly cynical edge – and it will get worse. But trust me in the watching? I was mesmerized and as engaged with the story as if I knew them and was an invitee.
I marveled at the precision timing (think of that next time you are late for a meeting); I strained to see the famous faces in the church crowd; I commented on the hats and the lack of them; I loved the pomp and drama but also the ease of informality that the brothers possessed in their traditional military garb; I speculated on the Queen’s relationship with her family as Camilla bowed; and I teared up (YES, DAMN IT!!) when Kate and her father started walking down the aisle.
But, as I said, I wasn’t alone – 3 billion people – across the world – tuned in – TV retailers take note…
And Internet usage records were shattered as people watched, shared and commented – adding a whole new dimension to the event and maybe helping to define (if we think it out) a whole new strategic approach to marketing, as access to live TV and office computers and mobile devices and holiday schedules and such combined to take advantage of every channel available defined by location, timing and ease.
Let me not forget the millions of people in the streets – in London – and I’d be churlish (good English word that) not to mention the women I saw in NY wearing headgear reminiscent of what I had just seen in Westminster.
And there you have it.
Yet here is the thing – why?
Looking at other most watched, most shared, most engaging events the world has ever seen – I was struck by what connected them.
Lady Di’s funeral – 2.5 billion viewers; Michael Jackson’s funeral, one of Yahoo’s previous records; World Cup Soccer; Super Bowl…
What do you think they all have in common? And doesn’t it strike you that war and terrorism and disaster are not up there? Not to mention our unholy fascination with stupid celebrity doings…despite their daily deluge?
A friend had commented the day before that, despite her own inherent cynicism, she was drawn to the story as she worked out in the gym because it was so nice – a change from the usual downer news, doom and gloom – because it was at once real and surreal – aspirational but yet somehow attainable too.
And that led me to a thought I would have dismissed as soppy a week ago but today find rather poignant and insightful…Listen:
“Passion makes the world go round. Love just makes it a safer place.” Ice T
Think on that. We need passion – for our lives, for our work, for our world – but passion can be misdirected – all it takes is love…
So, as I return to my innate and native cynicism – I will be holding on to just a bit of this story…
What’s your take?
PS – Full confession – our younger daughter is getting married in the summer – what father could be immune…
OK. I’ll confess too. Although I didn’t wake up at 5am to see it from the beginning I did watch with interest for an hour and a half. The pageantry was unprecedented and the precision with which they executed this event was flawless. For me, like your friend, it is an escape and a glimpse into a historic world that we rarely get to see and that is what fascinates us. For the monarchy, Will and Kate have completely modernized what many believe to be an antiquated system. Was I the only one wondering if Charles will get passed over for the sake of the monarchy? Chances are the Queen will outlive her son…
When I returned home on Friday night, the part of Greenwich Avenue in the West Village which is often referred to as “Little Britain” was alive with Brits and anglophiles rejoicing with passion in the streets. And I partook in the passion at Banana Republic where they had a King’s Day sale — 40% off everything in the store.
While I did not get up at 4am EST, I knew the stations would replay the entire wedding this weekend. It was beautiful, moving, and memorable. In reading comments on various websites, it saddened me that those negative commentators failed to see the glass half full, that the Brits love their royals despite the tremendous cost to taxpayers. The Royal Wedding was a sign of happiness and hope on so many levels. Yes I cried a few tears. It was one of those events that caused me to reflect on my own life. Am I living a vicious cycle? Or am I moving towards something greater? Do I follow my passions? Indeed I do. Dreams can come true, and we need more positive stories of love to improve the world.
I thought it would come a… “I am referring of course to the news about the death of Osama Bin Landen”.
Sorry, too influenced by todays papers.
But agreed. Passion moves millions, love moves billions.
And the expectation for a magnificent score is stronger than a body in the ocean.
I watched and loved the wedding too.
I’ve yet to see any adult I know (ncluding me) say they enjoyed the wedding, without saying, “I must confess”.
Almost “pardon me for wanting happy endings, hopeful beginnings, and love in THIS world”.
Particularly today, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, and on the news of Bin Laden’s demise, it’s clear that while can we always be “old enough” to deal with hardship and tragedy, we all need joyous events to fuel us.
Why we should start with the “I must confess“… well here´s a confess:
I must confess i did´nt watch it… but I would like to do it.
the world is bad enough, the news is worst…
but in this “little“ things (althougt was one of the biggest events on the planet)
is where real life is. It´s all about love, like you say.
we should do this in spanish…better yet in italian, german… all languages.
Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben said, “With great power comes great responsibility”. The royalty of Britain may not have much actual power but the power they have to influence the thoughts of others is huge. I think they take it seriously though. London’s huge march towards eco-fashion clothing has been in a large part influenced by the royal family. An example of this would be the Garden Party to Make a Difference.
Getting up at 4 am and being glued to the tube for hours left me hung over for a couple of days, a little behind in my work but completely delighted that I watched. If only I owned a proper hat!
60 hours after love connected us — passion took over and the spontaneous outpouring of emotion united Americans and others through digital channels and ultimetly in flash crowd scenes with waving flags and chanting/singing participants. I could only think of my dear friend Andrew who died in the Towers savings others and the contrast with the mass murderer whose demise was the catalyst for the celebrations. I still felt hollow — and on Holocaust Memorial Day more hollow….
All you need is love….
And the world got to celebrate together…4,000 Tweets per Second for Obama’s Speech http://goo.gl/fb/9mO5W
Beyond the glamour, I think there is respect for a leadership model based on self discipline, public service, and altruism. Constitutional monarchy in its most developed form has much to commend it. We’ve moved on some way since you chaps dumped all that tea in the bay.
And yes, I am a Brit and a monarchist!
I think that most Christians (myself included) would find the pomp and glamour of such an event fascinating because of the promise that we have in scripture of one day being spiritually wedded to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It’s like an imperfect taste of things to come. ‘Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ (Rev. 19:9). Everyone is invited but not everyone will accept.
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!
First of all I have to confess that receiving your email made me feel better…I was so overwhelmed with this event, that it has been hard to go back to a regular life, regular job…
I started thinking how amazing it was (my stepdaughter said “Look, Kate looks just like Cinderela!” and I had to explain to her that actually Cinderela was supposed to look like Kate! What your friend said is exactly what bothers me the most: “aspirational but yet somehow attainable too”.
So how come we are not able to do something like this, to touch people’s life like they did, to use all of this tools that are available to us, that we master so well, and really make people stop for a minute and just…watch!
It just makes me believe that we definitely need story teller, we need to make it real, to make it attainable. I’ll keep that in mind and I won’t be able to sleep well (really!) until I think of something big!
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Just read a compelling stat in New York Magazine — In preparation for Mother’s Day last week, which coincided with the big news about bin Laden, a design your own t-shirt site, CafePress.com, showed 700+ times more “Mom” tee’s than “Osama death” tee’s. It’s true, we all just want to show love!!!
A confession without penitence. Why? The chronology of history can be comforting, e.g. a visit to the National Portrait Gallery, London, is restorative, even if you are not a royal. Horray for commoners.
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