Finding Joy in Togetherness: The Science of Collective Effervescence

How Synchronized Energy and Community Impact Our Health

Do you believe collective effervescence is essential to your health?

It is the high you experience with synchronized energy in rituals and traditions, such as the exhilaration at a sports event when everyone gasps and yells at scoring a goal. This happens at weddings and receptions that last all day and end with dancing through the night. It occurs at high school and college graduation ceremonies. It’s present when you run a marathon with many others, transforming solitary practice into a shared moment of collective effervescence and the runner’s high, a deeply relaxing state of euphoria or extreme joy.

The concept of collective effervescence was first described by the sociologists Émile Durkheim and Joseph Ward Swain in their book Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1915), a cultural study on rites and rituals. They observed an uplifting energy when people experienced a shared purpose or ritual collectively.

Where do you feel this synchronized energy?

Think about going to a concert, singing and moving with thousands of others to the same rhythms and heartbeats. On the surface, it seems insane to spend so much money and time to travel to a concert, packed in with thousands of strangers, to sing songs you’ve already played multiple times on your own.

Consider the emotional highs and lows you experience at a funeral or community gathering with food, music, and sometimes fireworks.

Credit Steven Sokulski from Pixabay

What is the opposite of collective effervescence?

The global pandemic forced a cold turkey halt to collective effervescence, and the withdrawal symptoms of isolation, depression, forced retirement, disengagement, and dissolution of friendships are showing up in mental and physical health issues.

Have you noticed there was no return to normal? There is only the New Now. In the New Now, we’re living inside every moment — everywhen and everynow. We are creating the history of these times.

You and many others did not return to physical third spaces, such as libraries, shopping malls, parks, cafes, offices, and pubs. When work went remote or ceased, many stopped traveling and let go of memberships to airline clubs.

More adults over 18 are living alone than ever before and are twice as likely to experience feelings of depression and need for emotional support. Some are solo by choice, others have outlived their partners, divorced, or had no children.

Credit Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Then I Thought About You and the Synchronized Energy You Bring

This got me thinking about the big why behind this newsletter and the community we gather and grow daily. It’s about relationships. It’s about our mental and physical health in a world of hyperlinks, hyperconnections, and an even greater need to renew and re-engage in the communal experience of joy in getting together.

Here’s a theory: We search for the community with our vibe, our tribe.

We tend to put in the effort to create the community we want after exhausting ourselves for many years in associations, clubs, and communities that end with disappointment, disconnection, or demoralization. This happens when shared goals or beliefs are not supported, leading to a breakdown in collective spirit and unity.

It’s about the right vibe. It’s about feeling safe in intelligent conversations that push us out of our shells and to share our gifts.

It’s about sticking with it until you find the community worthy of your attention and all you can teach them. It’s about setting boundaries to foster healthy relationships, respecting yourself, and helping others show up and treat you with respect.

It’s not about what we know; it’s about what you can teach us. It’s about building something that transforms people, not tricking them into joining. Meaningful is more important than metrics. We’d rather serve 3,000 who connect and care than have 30,000 subscribers.

The brand of our community is you and your wisdom. Who you are is more important than what you do.

Coming up with questions and better questions that help people transform is what we are about. We have no templates or maps; instead, we surrender our egos and let our members guide us. It is your questions and your desires that drive the collective effervescence.

Credit Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Why is Collective Effervescence So Important?

What happened next? This got me thinking even deeper about the collective effervescence of building an online community. Wouldn’t it be easier to call up six friends and have lunch and conversation for the entire afternoon?

Community building takes more time, talent, and people than you ever imagined. While anyone with a laptop and an internet connection can stick their flag in the ground and declare their community is open for business, the collective effervescence field is littered with the charred remains of such folly because nearly all of them crash and burn within weeks of the launch.

Entrepreneurs who become community builders are ridiculous. The entrepreneur is always about more, more, more, and that’s not what works in a brand community. The brand is YOU and your wisdom.

Carrie Melissa Jones, author of Building Brand Communities, and creator of The CMJ Community for people who build and grow online communities, recently published her behind-the-scenes report of the 2024 launch of her latest community. Her book came out four years ago, and Carrie has more experience with communities than anyone; still, the point is she is showing up with lessons recently learned in the rapidly changing environments we are all living through.

Suppose the most respected and credible authority on online communities is experiencing challenges in creating safe spaces and engaging reasons for you to frequently participate. In that case, you might take a moment to look at all of the Pieces of Advice You’d Give Someone Preparing for a Launch. It’s on her website along with the video “Behind the Scenes Tour of the CMJ Community.”

We hope you see this information as a community participant. We are not asking you to become another casualty in the online stampede. Pay attention to lessons learned by thought leaders like Carrie and — together, let’s use that to determine where to find the collective effervescence your mind and heart need.

Because we care deeply about the challenging, rewarding work of bringing people together, these are the principles and lessons we are following in building the community for Gifted Professionals and Communicators:

1. Take your time and don’t expect perfect.
2. Perfect is impossible. Directionally correct with on-ramps for feedback is the way to go. Figure out rewards for better questions and higher participation by community members. Create individually customized service and guidance not found anywhere else — only in this community.
3. This is totally about listening and talking with your community members and trying to get clear on who they are and why they are here, and it’s okay to not have all the answers.
4. This is not about technology and software. Instead, find something basic that always works smoothly.

May We Please Hear from You?

When have you experienced collective effervescence?

Are you finding it harder or easier to get together with people who understand you and add meaning to your day? Send an email to me with your story or questions.

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