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Dec
16
2010

I Wish Life Was a Musical

I’ll preface this by saying that this post will have very little to do with writing, but a lot to do with life.

I love a good flash mob video. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s a group of people who get together and plan to sing and/or dance out in some random public place at a certain designated time. They appear to be just normal people going about their day, until the singing starts, the dancing ensues, and smiles of an impromptu audience shine. The people participating can be young or old, heavy or slim, good dancer or bad alike. I LOVE that EVERYONE gets to be included in these moments. The point isn’t to fall into a certain characteristic, but to break out of one. What businessman usual stops during his evening commute home to sing in the middle grand central?

So what’s with all the flash mobs? Here’s what I think. I believe that it’s because in this time of great turmoil in the world, of wars, of suffering, of deep uncertainty about what is coming next, people need to feel happy. People need to live in a Disney movie where the people around them burst into song and dance, even if it’s only for a few moments. People need to have hope that not everything is crap. There can still be fun, spontaneous, wonderful things that happen in life. Watching a good flash mob is like watching the best feel-good movie of the year. It’s like picking up a novel and not being able to put it back down until you reach the end. It just makes you smile, or cry, or laugh.

Now I’m not trying to say that flash mobs are trying to bring world peace or anything. I actually have no idea when, why, or how they started. But I have to say, every time I’ve watched a video of one of these happening, I have a renewed belief in the inherent goodness in people. Not everything in this world is roses, sunshine, and unicorns all the time, but for the most part, people are good. I believe that most people in this world don’t want to hurt others. People do still care about their neighbors, it’s just a little harder to show it these days. And I think sometimes in our self-centered, hectic lives we all need a little reminder that our neighbors are worth caring about.

Or maybe I just wanna live in a musical and everyone else finds these things annoying. That’s entirely possible to. 🙂

Here’s one example of a flash mob that I just love. It’s all singing, and it’s beautiful. It brings tears to my eyes.

Here’s one video I just watched today. It’s not your typical flash mob, but the point is the same. I know that this is an advertisement and I am not endorsing it in any way other than to say that I like video. Maybe it just hits me in the right spot today because in 2 days I fly back home to see my family. A nice ‘Welcome Home’ always feels so good.

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Heather

2 pings

  1. Shoshanna Evers says:

    I agree, it would be fun if we lived in a musical. To help bring that to fruition, I frequently burst into song. Just ask DH. 🙂

  2. Janet Walters says:

    I once, many years ago participated in such a thing. A group of us had gone to NYC and rode the Staten Island ferry. On out way off, we linked arms and sant “We’re off to see the wizard.” Fortunately several of the members of the group had great voices. We garnered applause.

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