BE Remarkable: The Power of the Flash Mob

Flash Mobs are one of the newest and coolest phenomenon around.  My dream is to be in one (although I am a terrible dancer) or be witness to one.  There is something so joyful, alive and real about these momentary respites from the hum drum of our everyday life that a few of them have actually brought tears to my eyes.  There is something so human about them and I love it.

I love a great musical and I suppose it is the flash mob that comes closest to the experience of a musical when people break out in song and dance for no reason at all.  It is a real life musical.  

So if your inbox or status update on facebook has not featured a video link to a flash mob then today is your lucky day!  But first, what is a flash mob you ask?

Good question.  A flash mob is:
"a large group of people who gather at a public location to perform a pre-defined action, typically a brief dance, and disperse rapidly after the event has concluded.an internet phenomenon of the 21st century. Although Flash Mobs don’t happen online, they are organized using social media, viral emails, or websites in general. Consequently, the first ‘official’ gathering of this nature was attempted in Manhatten in May 2003, the early days of social media. The phenomenon has since spread across the globe and Flash Mobs are open to anyone to join." (see http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/flash-mob-participate-examples/ for more information)

Before I reveal to you the "big so what?" of the flash mob take a look at a few of my favorites here:

    

 

Did you notice the onlookers in these scenes?  Many are taking pictures, calling people, shooting video on their phone.  Some are dancing along.  And they are smiling!  How can you not be infected by this joy that the dancers are experiencing.  The very idea that they are moving in time together is just too much for me. 

These are just three.  If you want more (you know you want more!) then take a look here: More Flash Mobs on Mashable! 

If one of our goals is to stand out and be remarkable (for the right reasons!) then a flash mob is something highly unusual to the everyday person.  How many of you have been caught in a flash mob?  Few I doubt.  In fact if you look closely you will see that many of the more high profile flash mobs happened outside of the United States.

To be remarkable you have to break people's expectations.  Their patterns must be upset in some way for the better.  People are on auto pilot moving from one meeting to the next, hurried all the time and plugged into our cell phones as if by an invisible umbilical cord.  The flash mob says turn it all off for a few minutes and let's remember the joy of singing and dancing together.  

Bravo!