In the interviews with my own research participants, music emerged as one of the most powerful conveners of collective joy and pain. Regardless of which team we’re rooting for, the power of collective joy can transcend that division. In fact, the first comment on YouTube was from a user named “Manchester United Fan Prez”-Manchester being one of Liverpool’s greatest rivals.
And based on the video’s six million views, you can be sure that it wasn’t just Liverpool fans, or even soccer fans, who found themselves misty-eyed and covered in goosebumps. I was surprised to find myself fighting back my own tears. For two minutes, a stadium of Liverpool fans swayed in unison as they sang the club’s famous anthem, “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” red scarves held high over their heads and tears streaming down many of their faces.
Collective joyĪ couple of years ago, I watched a YouTube video of 95,000 Australian fans of the Liverpool Football Club gathered at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for a soccer match. We have to catch enough glimpses of people connecting to one another and experiencing shared emotion that we believe in our inextricable connection. According to my research and interviews with thousands of people, one way to bolster that belief is to seek out everyday moments of collective joy and pain with strangers-moments that remind us of our common humanity, a foundation that can support us later when we find ourselves in conflict.
However, our belief in that connection is constantly tested and repeatedly severed. I can stand up for what I believe is right when I know that regardless of the pushback and criticism, I’m connected to myself and others in a way that is unseverable. From the GGSC to your bookshelf: 30 science-backed tools for well-being.Īs I recount in my book Braving the Wilderness, one of the keys to doing this work is maintaining a belief in the deep connection between every other human in the world that cannot be broken.
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