Tension is what keeps the plot moving forward. The old Hollywood paradigm of ” set-up, conflict & resolution “. Once the characters get a chance to connect, most of the tension disappears.
Our love affair with the status quo is overwhelming. Ever since meetings became part of business| corporate life, the power dynamics and the hierarchy determined where the head ( person with the most power) would sit, The HIPPO’s( Highest Paid Person’s Opinion) voice has remained the loudest with not much opportunity for the lesser franchised to express their opinion and not much leeway for either new information or new way of thinking to seep in. So much water has flown under the bridge but things remain the same to this day.
Things are not much different with political debates, town halls, fireside chats etc. We have microphones, broadcast TV, social media and live streaming now but the organisers are yet to figure out that they can out a cap on the amount of time allotted for each individual ( or switch off the microphone) and the most boisterous, the obnoxious, the loudest still get away without too much heed for real data and ground reality.
High school and university graduations are no different. You can date back 75 years or more and recognise the same old, same old, rinsed and repeated time and time again. Old wine in old bottle. If thought through well and if the shackles of status quo are to be shrugged off, these occasions can become truly memorable and inspiring moments, but alas, it is not to be. The more things are supposed to change, the more they remain the same.
Weddings and funerals are community events that have hung into the coat tails of the status quo fastidiously- yes, the scale, especially that of weddings- would have changed, but not much else.
Considering that email replaced good old snail mail and had the potential to bring in incredible engagement, not much has changed since we started using it first almost four and a half decades earlier.
Why this obsession with running hard to stand at the same place? Is it herd mentality? Is it wisdom of the crowds? Birds of the same feather flock together? The comfort in being in a SOS( Sea of Sameness)? The inability to get new thinking on board and bridge the chasm? The fear of losing out on well entrenched connections?
Time to introspect on why we are sticking to something- is it because it works or because we have always done it that way? I suspect, with much regret,it is the latter!