This one is a little bit more personal then most of my posts. I'll try to keep it from getting over gushy, and I'll keep it tied into the general and try to stay away from specific pining.
I've been reading a lot about crowds, crowd instinct, and control of crowds lately. Elias Canetti wrote "Crowds and Power" which is a great read to be sure. Everyone should take at least a passing look at the opening chapters to get a very different look at the formation of crowds, how the behave, and (the part that is pertinent to this post) the very important function that they serve in the human experience.
I've had this urge for the past couple weeks to just scream at the sky over some personal losses I've had. And my goal here is to kill two birds (and sort of elevate my own need to spill all of this nonsense out) by coupling my outpouring with a consideration on the need to do so.
Canetti holds as a central idea that humans validate their experiences and emotions in the sharing thereof. This makes a lot of sense, observation adds a special validation to the human experience. I think in a way we just feel better with the knowledge that others are aware of our sufferings and internal pain, and of our joys and personal triumphs. It's key not to become bogged down by them, that sort of thing leads to a melancholic self obsession that holds you back and breaks you down.
The sharing of experience is something uniquely human, (one of many things in such a category) and while I'd hesitate to name anything as the "linchpin of society" it's definitely a top running candidate. The need to share experience and the euphoria that results from it can be attested to by anyone who has seen a riot or mob. The amazing thing is that the energy and power of these emotions manifests itself in very real very physical results. In riots both positive (a sports championship win) and negative (bread riots) the shared joy/misery of the crowd creates a pent up force that must be applied and directed in some vector. The body reacts to the crowd, the will of the crowd in that sense swallows up the individual in a complete and total way.
Perhaps that is the root of our need to cry out that we are in pain. Because when others respond to that cry it is a step closer to losing yourself and your identity, however briefly, to the crowd. And in that loss you distance yourself from the need to miss people, the need to be loved, the need to struggle on with dealing with your problems... however temporary that relief may be.
This is a lot more esoteric then most of my posts, and I recognize that I'm in a way sort of corrupting the idea I'd had for this blog by mixing in the personal.
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