A good mascot has to be memorable. If it’s hard to identify or isn’t recognizable as something specific, it’s not going to do the job it’s supposed to. A mascot needs to stand for something. It needs to be more than just cute – it has to have a personality.
I am close to getting older by another year and yet the childishness inside me refuses to fade. There is never a single day when a person doesn’t feel the blues. I mean, let’s be honest, not all moments in a day are perfectly blissful. On an average, a person goes through a thousand emotions and processes more than a thousand thoughts per day. While sometimes we experience joy, bliss and positivity, the rest of the time we feel low, mundane and listless. Many of us think, “Damn! I am feeling so low today. Now how do I get rid of it?”
I have been associated with many people who can overrule their feelings of negativity by thinking of their favorite characters whom they term it as lucky mascots. Like there is this one lady who will surf through her phone and check out her collection of penguin photographs. They are her Happy Feet. There’s this person who will watch The Lion King to chase away his boredom. In fact, I am a big fan of The Minions. They never fail to evoke laughter in me.
Now let me make myself clear. I am not talking about movies out here. I am talking about the (fictional animated) characters who became our bum chums and made our childhood awesome. They are the ones worthy enough to be known as our mascots. They are the ones who unintentionally teach us so many lessons. Moreover, they show us that it’s okay to be silly at times and laugh out loud because life is not just about sulking over your daily problems and issues. There’s much more to life than what you are experiencing. Not all days will remain the same. Some days will blossom like spring and some days will be stormy affairs. These are the times when the insane thoughts of our mascots can bring sanity in our chaotic moments.
A mascot is not just cute, as said by Don Carter, it needs to stand up for something. That something is HOPE. A hope of sunrise after a dark night. A hope for a glimmering smile after sulking mood. A hope of success after repeated failures. He isn’t a failure who falls down, he is who refuses to stand up again. That’s what they teach us. Like the penguins in my friend’s case. Their walks invoke laughter, their claps invoke applause, their style of standing up after falling down teach never-say-die attitude. The Lion King, who exemplifies the way a cub becomes the king of the jungle, The Minions, who act stupid all the time and still manage to save the day, believe it or not, these mascots pass us encrypted messages of positivity, perseverance, and heroism.
It’s okay to have a mascot and turn to it when our minds are clouded. It’s okay to appease the child inside us by letting our mascots make us laugh again. It’s perfectly okay to let our mascots help us get nostalgic and walk down the memory lane when they made us smile for the first time.. because that’s what they do. They shoo away our blues. It’s time we recognize these fictional heroes! It’s time we confess the identity of our mascots to ourselves. It’s time for acceptance. I just shared my mascot with you. It’s your turn, pal.
Peace, Poetry and Power.