We Need Shared Experiences

or How To Find Friends And Remind Yourself We're All Here

It wasn’t the volume of the music that was physically painful to my ears.

Though I could feel every kick of the kick drum in my loins.

It was the 18,000+ people screaming the rapid fire rap lyrics back towards the stage.

We’d been invited to a Doja Cat concert.
I’m somewhat familiar with Doja Cat’s repertoire and I enjoy a number of her tunes.

Her performance was amazing. Excellent singing, rapping, dancers, lights, pyrotechnics, video screens… a full, world-class show.

Rap music, for those not as ‘with it’ as me (the cool rapper kids still say ‘with it’, right?), if done well is very impressive. Doja Cat does it very well.

But that’s not what struck me.
What struck me were the 18,000 people singing/rapping along with the most challenging parts at the top of their lungs.
The more words, and the faster those words, the better and the louder.

It wasn’t about just the individuals, it became about the group of people.
All sharing their joy and love for something.
It became rapturous.
Suddenly no one in that arena was alone.

It was all about the shared experience.

Shared Experiences are very important.
People much smarter than me (I set a low bar but you get what I mean) have written about them and studied them.

Shared Experiences are so important and so beneficial that they are the reason even soulless corporations coordinate god-awful team-building trips to escape rooms in strip malls.
They know that if you, that twerp from accounting and the woman from HR who smells like a cheese slice experience something fun/challenging/rewarding together… you’ll work better, you’ll trust each other more, you’ll feel more accountable to each other and you’ll share a bond.

That’s not only good for business… it’s good for you and society.

Here’s even better news…

You don’t have to wait for someone to create a shared experience for you.
You can find them pretty much everywhere.
A coffee club.
A community group.
A concert.
Whatever.

All you need is a shared interest and to connect with others who share that interest.

Shannon and I did a live stream morning show called The Morning Show Thing for about 5 years until Facebook made it difficult to continue.
We enjoyed putting the show together but we enjoyed the most was the community of people the show created.
People who otherwise would never have connected with each other but would ask with concern about each other if they didn’t see them in the comments.

We may bring that show back but it was more effort than many people realize.
However, we were still keen to bring back a shared experience.

So, we created a silly video/podcast called ‘North of Weatherfield: A Canadian Coronation Street Podcast’ where people who watch and love Coronation Street can chat about… Coronation Street.
Without fear of deserved but ruthless mocking.

Our second episode goes live at 3PM EST today.

If you’re interested, you can check it out here.

Of course, you have many more choices for a shared experience than just heading over t’podcast.
This newsletter is one.

Find your shared experience.
They make life better.

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(Pictured: Author uses sons’ heads as auditory shields)