Effervescence
2026-04-19
A term I keep coming back to over the course of my life is collective effervescence. You know that bubbly feeling you get at a really good concert or when the DJ at a party masterfully orchestrates the vibe? That's what Émile Durkheim would call collective effervescence. He used it as a term to explain how religious traditions all around the world maintain unity around their traditions, and what separates them from different cultures or environments they might encounter. In a sense, that's a similar vibe one would get from attending a Divine Liturgy, Roman Catholic Mass, or some contemporary low-church variant. I understand that Durkheim wanted to get to a common essence behind why people get together and perform collective rituals, but I also think there's a major problem with trying to put all of those traditions and rituals under a singular umbrella.
There is that collective effervescence when people come together for a certain ritual, but the difference isn't necessarily in the rituals themselves, but more with the outcomes associated with them. The effervescence I might feel after a concert is different compared to that I might feel after receiving communion at the Divine Liturgy. Thoughts and feelings don't get boiled down to a singular set of forms, but are layered and unique. There are attempts to boil them down, of course, but I would say that doing so isn't to explain what's going on internally, but solely to communicate that externally. Qualia is always going to be a limiting factor in how we can express our personal experience. Even in these entries, and even if you have an advanced understanding of English, there's still no possible way you can fully grasp what's going on in my head. These entries are nothing more than a meager attempt to give you a fuzzy image.
In that sense, everyone is empirically and utterly alone. That's why we can be in a room full of people—people we love, even—and still feel alone. There's grief in not being totally understood, and when people come together for their collective rituals, we do so to achieve a sense of togetherness. But I would say that recently, I've become totally fine with loneliness. The way it can be described as an infirmity makes it seem like there's a constant need to be around people, but I'd almost posit it's the other way around. Other people are what make us sick. In the same way a drug addict needs to get high to not feel bad, we need other people and our collective rituals to keep ourselves from withdrawal.
I tend to flip-flop between identifying as an extrovert or an introvert. I used to think I was extroverted because I'm not shy. I don't have social anxiety in most situations. I can talk to anyone and not feel uncomfortable about it. At times, I'm loud, boisterous, and performative. However, I realized the performance is tiring, and to keep myself stable, I had to go extended periods by myself and not talk to anyone. The "introvert" label often gets conflated with shyness or being some kind of quiet, mysterious, or brooding person. I find that stupid because I am more introverted but don't have any problems telling jokes or saying what's on my mind.
As I've gotten older, I crave more and more time by myself. When I was younger, I felt it was important to socialize with my peers and I enjoyed doing so. These days, I get a lot less enjoyment out of it. That isn't because I find others less enjoyable; misanthropy is lame. It's more because I've come to be quite comfortable in my mind fortress, thinking about stuff. I also like making stuff as a solitary effort. I could never be in a band or a movie director; creative collaboration is a total mood killer for me. That's why writing is my favorite art form; I can just sit here and clack away, uninterrupted and in total solitude. Thankfully, nowadays with music production, an individual musician doesn't have to rely on collaborators if they don't want to. Man, I'd love to try getting into it again. One day at a time, though.
The main thing limiting me in music production is that I would like a turntable and an EWI—oh, and a DAW that I can get working on Linux. I was really into FL Studio for a little while, but it's not natively supported on Linux and while I could configure it with WINE, it's just such a pain to do that and stuff would break all the time. Ugh. I'd have to pay for a DAW again and get Reaper but AAAAHHHHH—sorry, getting a little bit over-the-top there. I love how I always think "once I get X, it's over for you bitches." But seriously, though, once I get all that and a VPS set up with nginx and Icecast, you'll see just how powerful I really am.
It's always a blessing to look forward to things. When I get depressed, having all of my ambition and motivation zapped away from me is such a horrible thing. But you know what they say: the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice. The hills and valleys of my life have been treacherous, and the journey here is far from over. Things can feel so difficult at times, and at others feel like I'm finally surfing on that right wave. All the input, stimuli, and greater extrasensory forces I find myself exposed to can really make it feel like there's no way out at times, but that's the thing with effervescence, I guess.
We'll all evaporate soon enough.
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