What if being joyful is the most radical thing we can do right now?
Almost exactly five years ago, the people of Britain opened the windows and let in the bright blue day. Danny Boyle’s chaotic, euphoric Olympic ceremony was a moment of collective joy that gave the whole country goosebumps. Thousands volunteered to help, guiding and encouraging overseas visitors with a sense of pride and openness. Brass bands lined the streets and red arrows crossed the sky. For the first time, Britain seemed to have found both confidence and humility, a combination that has eluded us since the end of empire.
And then the story changed. A sclerotic referendum, followed by a series of horrific mass murders have left us feeling tentative and fragile. Newspaper editors and politicians have been quick to lean on the bruise, using quite blatant emotional triggers to frighten us as much as possible. But it seems like the script is changing again. Instead of voting from a sense of duty and cowering submission, millions of people just voted for a candidate who offered them a sense of hope. Political analysts will tell you that Jeremy Corbyn wrote a decent manifesto. I believe he’s tapped into a latent (but always present) sense of celebration and joy that transcends politics and is rooted in our sense of collective belonging.
This is powerful. Witness Boris Johnson’s rattled speech in parliament last week, in which he took aim at Corbyn’s triumphant appearance at Glastonbury. Since when did the Conservative party care about a music festival? Since the national mood turned against them, that’s when. Clever politicians like Johnson know that joy is dangerous. As long as people feel browbeaten and scared, they can be convinced to vote for the status quo. Introduce an element of hope and anything could happen.
Despite all efforts to contain or discourage it, joy spreads. The One Love Manchester concert was a life affirming, beautiful moment. To the Daily Mail’s annoyance, people came together not in anger but in celebration. Earlier this year Jerome Jarr’s Love Army for Somalia brought thousands of people to activism for the very first time, sending a jet plane of supplies and an outpouring of compassion to a country suffering terrible drought.
Here in the UK, organisations like Sunday Assembly and Morning GloryVille are offering people ways to celebrate life and experience joy outside traditional religious institutions. Their work is not overtly political, but by helping thousands of people to find happiness and connection they’re surely having a positive impact on our culture. Our own project, the Citizens Advertising Takeover Service, began as a gentle critique of consumer advertising but became a kind of mass celebration that broke the rules of public space and let the people back in.
We believe that joy is disruptive. The last thing an authoritarian bully needs are happy and optimistic voters who refuse to see other people as ‘others’. Joyful citizens don’t tend to go shopping as much, because they know that the source of their happiness isn’t wrapped in plastic. This concept of abundance — that many of us have as much as we need — is an existential threat to the way we currently organise our economy. But our economy isn’t exactly in great shape anyway.
Glimpse is seeking to create ‘radical optimism’ through campaigns, events and cultural moments. We want to work with creative people to make joy and hope more visible and accessible to millions more people. This isn’t about glibly claiming that everything’s great, or ignoring the shattering impact of social injustice in the world. But it’s about challenging the story of gloom, the idea that everything is inevitably getting worse and that we have no power to change it. We do have that power, but we have to believe in it. We want to use creativity to shake the foundations of reality and help people see a glimpse of a different world. Because it’s coming, and we’re ready to celebrate.
