Work It, London

Who’d have thought our capital’s once humble New Year’s display of pyrotechnics would make such an impression on me this year that I’d still be humming the tones of Katy Perry three days later?

Such was the wow factor of London’s 2011 New Year’s Eve fireworks at the London Eye. It was breathtaking – and I wasn’t even there! I watched it on the telly like any other self-respecting Londoner would, but for the first time ever I was genuinely impressed.

For a whole eight minutes I was enraptured. I couldn’t take my eyes off the impeccably choreographed explosions of light whooshing inwards from each of the Eye’s pods, and the Vegas-style fountains that appeared to rocket up from the bottom of the Thames and flood the riverbanks with a warm, iridescent glow.

Every time I thought it couldn’t possibly get any better, the rockets went and upped the ante until the entire Houses of Parliament were obscured by a block of shimmering light, radiating onto the banks and showering over the 250,000 spectators.

It sounds completely corny, I know, but I simply felt happy watching them.

There has, of course, been the inevitable backlash over the cost of the display, with critics moaning about how the government can justify spending so much on pretty explosives when the rest of the country is facing brutal spending cuts.

Admittedly, it is January 4. For most people this equates to two, pretty depressing things: we must go back to work and everything has just got a whole lot more expensive. Way to sour an already bitter pill.

But for those eight minutes of fireworks nobody thought about cuts, or price hikes, or job losses or pay freezes. People were just happy, and what the hell is wrong with that?

The magic of the fireworks is most likely wearing off, but here’s a curve ball for you – what if you don’t let it? What if we say ‘bugger the cost’ and just try to hang on to that pocket of time when nothing actually mattered? Lord knows this year is going to be another tough one for many of us. Sometimes I think the only way to get through it all is to just say ‘sod it’! Happy New Year!

Image by JT London courtesy of Flickr