Why We Stop for a Blood Moon — and What That Teaches Us
Hi Gerrit.
On 7 September, about 6 billion people could see the Blood Moon…
Taking a few factors into account, it is estimated that between 350 million and 1.4 billion people actually watched it.
Make it 500 million.
For free.
Why?
Four reasons:
• Scarcity – It can’t happen every week, or it loses power.
• Beauty / Awe – It has to move people, not just check a box.
• Shared Attention – Everyone experiences it together, not in silos.
• Story Value – It becomes a marker in time: remember when….
What is the “Blood Moon” in your family? Your team? Your business?
For Apple, the iPhone launch was their Blood Moon. It made the world stop, look up, and remember it.
For your company it could be a bold launch, a once-in-a-decade innovation or an event where people feel ‘This is bigger than my everyday tasks’. Work stops and they become of the story ‘…were you there when…’.
For your team it could be getting through a rough patch together, with a story to remember.
For your family it could be a reunion, the birth of a baby, when everyone is absorbed in the same thing – a miracle.
What are your Blood Moons that unite you with others? I’d be interested to know…
We all need them. Rare moments that stop time, pull us together, and leave us changed.
Wishing you at least one Blood Moon before the end of the year.
Gerrit Cloete
“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”
— Marcus Aurelius (Roman emperor turned philosopher.)