Reasons to be Cheerful

They called it the “Wedding of the Century”. Prince Harry said his mother would have been proud. The crowds in the streets were jubilant. The reporters were asking obvious questions, but we wanted to hear the answers. The people were there to celebrate, to forget the unhappiness and mediocrity of life, to be part of the Royal festivities.

You only had to look at the faces of the people in the crowd to know that they were indeed jubilant. Some of them had camped out for 3 days to get a front seat to view the Royal Couple. There were people of all ages and dominions, some had even travelled across the Atlantic to be there for this momentous occasion. Men and women, boys and girls, all wanted to be part of history, to be able to say that “I was there”.

The television programs began broadcasting from 8 a.m. and were still replaying the Royal scenes at midnight. It was as if the rest of the world no longer existed. Other news was put on hold, whilst we saw umpteen replays of the day’s events. It was one of the biggest and probably best publicity coups for the United Kingdom, since Charles and Diana’s wedding in 1981. Comparisons were naturally made between the two events and the most obvious conclusion was that William and Kate were very much a ‘couple’. Katherine, despite her ‘Middle Class’ background, carried herself with dignity and grace. She demonstrated a confidence and air of Royalty that certainly distinguished her from many a thoroughbred royal.

I was on a train when they were walking down the aisle. Watching it all from my friend’s iphone, we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by strangers. They crowded round the miniscule screen and we all laughed and joked together. Such a thing is normally unheard of in London, where you dare not speak to strangers for fear of being labelled as weird. It was a wonderful moment of togetherness and I will never forget it.

Everyone seemed to be caught up in the moment. There were organized and impromptu street parties all over the country. The cafes, restaurants and pubs were full to bursting as people found an excuse to celebrate. Even the most cynical could not fail to be caught up in the euphoria of the day.

How strange it is that we find so few excuses to celebrate life. How important it is to feel those good vibrations and to do it without fear, retribution or mockery. On the contrary there are too many opportunities to be sad, mad or just plane indifferent. And yet, such negative emotions only serve to divide humanity and make us more suspicious of each other.

Given the opportunity, all people like to rise to an occasion. I remember in the nineteen-sixties how the campaign in London, called “I’m backing Britain” took off in Carnaby Street. It became quite contagious. People were fed up with the negative labels that were being directed at the U.K. and they decided to fight back. It spawned an industry clothed in symbolism with the Union Jack prominently featured on T-Shirts, Crockery and anything that could sell the idea that Britain was great again.

To those people in the crowd and the hundreds of international TV reporters who broadcast the good news around the world, I say a loud BRAVO. Let’s find reasons to celebrate more often. They are good for morale and show that we can indeed be happy and united in the support of each other.