Since the Matildas’ heart stopping win on Saturday evening, two words have become very triggering to me: “Public” and “holiday”. In that order.
Everywhere I turn, excited people are discussing the possibility of a day off should our national women’s team win the World Cup final. I love a public holiday as much as most people, but this is not the time to be having these conversations. When Anzac Day approaches, you know it’s going to be acknowledged. When the Quee … er … King’s birthday approaches, you know Charles is going to have a birthday. But in the case of Matildas Monday (or whatever it hopefully ends up being called) we haven’t even played the semi-final yet! Stop sabotaging our chances. YOU ARE GOING TO JINX THE MATILDAS!
Anthony Albanese celebrated with Steph Catley after the Matildas’ first World Cup match in Sydney.Credit: Reuters
Now, I am a practical person, and I don’t believe in magic, and a jinx is an example of magical thinking. I know that we cannot stop a desired future outcome just by talking about it with other people. But two things can be true at once. I know that jinxes aren’t real, and I also know that we are effectively jinxing the Matildas by talking about a public holiday if they win.
For a start, there are the practicalities. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been talking about a World Cup public holiday for weeks. He is clearly trying to follow the larrikin example of Bob Hawke back in 1983 when the late former PM proclaimed an informal public holiday after our America’s Cup win.
But here’s the vital difference: Hawke’s famous words – “Any boss who sacks anyone for not turning up today is a bum!” – came after the big win, not beforehand. Albanese has put the cart before the horse and, in doing so, sparked party-pooper debate among the business lobby, politicians, talkback radio punters, and pretty much everyone else in the country. If a holiday does eventuate, it won’t be the unbridled, spontaneous joy of the America’s Cup celebrations. It will be contentious, and it will be tainted. One might argue, it will be jinxed.
Bob Hawke famously celebrating the America’s Cup win in 1983.Credit: Bob Jen
What’s more, all this holiday talk is putting insane pressure on the Matildas. The players are already carrying the hopes of the entire nation on their (probably exhausted) shoulders; now they have the added stress of potentially robbing us of a hypothetical public holiday if they don’t come through with the win. Surely we could have saved them from the burden. Surely we could have just talked about this later when we were all too drunk on emotion to think logically.
In psychological terms, a jinx is just counting our chickens before they’ve hatched. Those of us who feel uneasy talking about future possibilities are trying to mitigate our own anxieties about the outcome. We are the kind of people who will keep a pregnancy hidden until we are well into the fourth month. We won’t tell anyone about our potential new job until the contract has been signed and we are sitting at our desk. And we will wait to speculate on celebrating a win until the game has well and truly been won.
By refusing to jinx something, we show how much we care. It is scary and vulnerable to want something very badly, whether it is a baby, a new job, or a win for a beloved team. We are frightened of disappointment, and of failure, and humiliation, and we can’t control the outcome, so we just control our words. We don’t speak about it to anyone, in case we jinx our good fortune. We barely even allow ourselves to think it.
Of course, this type of magical thinking can go both ways. When we believe we can stop good things from happening with our words, we believe that we can stop bad things from happening, too. The flip side of the jinx coin is catastrophising: the idea that if we ruminate on the worst possible scenarios, we can somehow ward them off.
Catastrophising is as irrational as jinxing. We can’t prevent bad outcomes simply by talking about them; if this were the case, we wouldn’t have climate change, or COVID, or a housing crisis, or Donald Trump. But catastrophising can help us anxious types to brace ourselves for the worst, and then to feel pleasantly surprised when that worst doesn’t occur. When you see one of us yelling “Oh god, we’re going to lose!” – know that we’re just really invested in the game.
If we all want to support the Matildas, we need to hold off on post-final plans pre-final. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Victorian Sports Minister Steve Dimopoulos have both expressed their reluctance to jinx the team. The PM and NSW Premier Chris Minns need to follow their lead.
If the Matildas win, they will have earned their glorious victory. But if they lose, it will be because of the jinx.
Kerri Sackville is an author, columnist and mother of three. Her new book is The Secret Life of You: How a Bit of Alone Time Can Change Your Life, Relationships, and Maybe the World.
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