Four years ago, we played hooky from regular life to hang out for two solid weeks in front of the TV.
Will we do it again?
The Vancouver Olympics stirred something in this household. We were busy like most Canadians, getting on with life in the circus of family schedules, yet to become Pod people, earbuds and screens shutting out the world and one another. The Winter games hooked us, hard and fast, and our throats grew hoarse, cheering from halfway across the country.
( read more about that heady time here)
Here we are again, warming up the couch, ready for solid blocks of viewing. I’m trying to shut out all the political flashpoints and see if inspiration roots itself once more.
First, we have to change some new habits. We’re not watching live TV much these days. The kids now view content online, streaming whenever fancy strikes and our habits lean towards Netflix and HBO. We are part of the binge generation, no longer sitting down for appointment viewing but choosing a chilly weekend instead to power through episode after episode of House of Cards and True Detective.
The Olympics are a test then. Will we be glued once more to breathtaking feats? Was it only the patriotic fervour of the Games held on home turf that had us permanently perched? Can we silence the ever-growing cynicism that surrounds the Olympic movement and ignore all the controversy dogging the Sochi games?
In a culture steeped in irony, do golden ideals still pierce through?
Is it still possible, in our fragmented, digitized lives, to have a collective experience?
If getting choked up watching the athletes entering the stadium today is any barometer, I’m feeling a cheer coming on.
Can’t keep a fangirl down. Warm up the couch.
