Collective Effervescence
We’ve all felt it.
It’s the roomful of dancers struggling with the basics that suddenly comes together, finds its groove, sparks to life. It’s the motorcycles speeding down a winding country road that’s no longer led by a single bike but joins in a hive mind and rides as one. It’s the ragtag group of minor league baseball players with a new manager who, as a team, suddenly perform feats far beyond the skills of a single player.
It’s called “collective effervescence.”
Something special happens when we join together in a common goal and surrender our individual identity — our “small self” — and become part of a larger consciousness that shimmers and shines in an effervescent glow.
Effervescence. More than mere excitement. It’s a mix that sparkles, bubbles and glows.
Many people today feel alone, struggling for meaning or purpose, trying to live by the outdated rules of “bootstrap individualism” where we “pick ourselves up” and “succeed on our own.”
It’s simply not true, and never was.
We’re born with the support of many others. Raised by parents and extended family. Educated by teachers. Mentored by bosses. Given money by lenders. Offered advice by counselors. Supported by an endless stream of road workers, restaurant employees, bus drivers, airline pilots, and on and on. We receive help from the seen and nearly invisible, in nearly everything we do.
Alone? In truth, we never are. We’re always intimately connected with everyone and everything around us.
When we join efforts with others in a common goal, something special happens, and our stagnant energy moves and grooves and peaks at levels we’d never imagined.
We’re always just one step away from collective effervescence.
In his groundbreaking book “Flow” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi writes about all types of flow states - many of them achieved by individuals - but it’s those by a group that are singularly needed today.
Collective effervescence.
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Founder Matt Perry has spent a lifetime learning about, teaching, and writing about communication, perspectives and The Other. An award-winning filmmaker, healthcare journalist, and Somatic Coach, he’s spent his professional career observing the complex inner workings of people, organizations and issues to make unseen connections, uncover hidden truths and provide unique solutions.
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