From a Royal Wedding to the Fall of One Man: Events Punctuate Our Lives
The Zerista Manifesto (more humbly and appropriately titled “Vision and Purpose = Events Matter” on our About Us page) has been tangible as ever in the midst of our world’s recent events.
“Events punctuate life.”
Internationally, the world has been pulsing with celebration. Through the dark haze of a troubled economy, record-setting unemployment and environmental disasters, we’ve found some solace in the fairy tale wedding of the beautiful and graceful Kate Middleton to Prince William. Now, in a far less anticipated moment of good news – today we awaken to the news that Osama bin Ladin has finally been stopped in his tracks.
From the long-awaited royal wedding, to the even longer-awaited capture of Osama bin Ladin, voices worldwide are echoing the Zeristian belief that, to quote ourselves, “events produce the social content that people care about.”
These events mark beautiful new beginnings, and, as the Roman philosopher Seneca (and more recently the American philosophers Semisonic, in their hit song Closing Time) bittersweetly once said, “every new beginning comes from another beginning’s end.”
This week’s events have marked beautiful new beginnings – a handsome prince and his beautiful princess; while they simultaneously remind us of endings – the tragic death of William’s mother Diana, whose own beautiful beginning took some sad turns. We watched Diana’s beginning lead to divorce and, eventually, culminate to a car crash in Paris in 2007. That brutal end, that terrible event, punctuated our lives in a way most of us will never forget.
When looking back, it’s often easiest to remember something from an event-based standpoint – because those are the moments worth sharing and remembering. In psychology this is a phenomenon referred to as a “flashbulb memory” – “a vivid and detailed memory for an event that is typically charged with emotion (either positive or negative). The most common example given (at least to individuals of a certain age) is ‘Where were you when you heard of the assassination of President Kennedy?’ to which very many individuals can give graphic answers describing a place and the events occurring in it.” Today, most of us can remember exactly where we were sitting or what we were doing when we heard the news about Diana, and someday we’ll remember where we were last night or this morning when we first heard about Obama’s death.
Truly, “events echo and live before & after the date.”
For weeks before the royal wedding, everything from Kate Middleton’s hats to remembrances of Princess Diana were covered and dissected on news stations, blogs, and magazines worldwide. Today, as we attempt to emotionally and psychologically come to terms with this new reality – a world where Osama Bin Ladin is gone – we’re reminded of an old event, the events of 9/11, that stung the world and scarred our hearts in a way few things ever will.
Events, like their memory, are but a snapshot in the rhythms of our daily lives – but that is only a fragment of their impact. From the stress & excitement of planning an event, to the skip in our step when we feel like we have “something to look forward to,” events begin long before the date itself, and often their impact is felt for months and years afterwards.
“Events are mobile, social, and happen in real-time.”
The royal wedding was celebrated around the world, just as we shared in their loss of Princess Diana – through the television. Now we can blog and tweet about it, becoming real voices in an international conversation.
Today, as we remember the attacks of 9/11 and celebrate the end of one man’s terrible chapter in world history, let’s be grateful that technology has given us the tools to celebrate and remember these events together.
Do you remember where you were when Princess Diana died? How do you think social technology is changing the way we celebrate and remember events? Please – comment below and let us know your thoughts!
