Harmony and disharmony
Experiencing sharp contrast could be central to how events catalyze enduring change
Let’s talk some more about music.
A few years ago, I discovered an area of research on what is called strong or intense music experiences. The empirical study of such experiences is still pretty new, but it has roots in Abraham Maslow’s concept of peak experience. Maslow (1968) has written that music is one of the two easiest ways to trigger peak experience. (The other is sex, in case you were wondering.)
Within this topic, there is a small study that I find myself returning to again and again. It is published with the title: “How music changes our lives” (Schäfer et al., 2014).
In their study, Schäfer and colleagues interviewed 13 people about an intense music experience (IME) they’d had as either a performer or a listener. Unlike other research I’ve seen on IMEs, their goal was specifically to understand the long-term effects of those experiences.
First, they analyzed the qualities of each phase of the interviewees’ intense music experiences. The researchers named the first phase, the experience itself, harmony. They describe it so beautifully, and weave together so many rich insights into a single paragraph, I just have to quote them:
“Most respondents reported that there was a ‘letting oneself go’ experience – characterized by the absence of stressors, requirements, and problems – leading them into the altered state [of consciousness]. All feelings that dealt with anxiety, stress, and worries seemed to disappear and only positive feelings were left. Moreover, respondents described becoming emotionally sensitized to perceiving their basic and interpersonal needs…. The sensitivity, along with the release of problems, worries, and anxieties, enabled the respondents to explore their self. There were no barriers behind which socially undesired aspects of the self had to be hidden. People clearly recognized their own values, norms, and wishes. Their own personality emerged and most of the interviewees reported that it was the first time that they had really recognized and accepted it. This experience culminated in a deep feeling of harmony, that is, the feeling of being one with oneself and with the world. People approached and finally reached a state of experienced perfection and completeness, and they were self-realized. The state of harmony was further characterized by deep relaxation, an inner balance, satisfaction, authenticity, freedom, clarity, and deliverance from egocentrism” (p. 534, original italics).
… Chills, right? I would have never thought of describing my own strong experience with music as sensitizing me to my needs and allowing my personality to emerge, but it absolutely fits.
Of course, the harmonious IME must end. And when it does, interviewees entered the next phase of their experience: disharmony. What I would call the post-event blues. When returning to reality and facing the return of mundane troubles, “the world seemed gray and sad for a moment” (p. 534). One interviewee was quoted as saying, “coming back to reality has something to do with a loss that I feel” (p. 535).
The final phase is where participants felt the lasting effects of their experience. The researchers described it as the need for harmony. People became motivated to bring some of the harmony they had felt during their IME into their daily lives. Importantly, the memory of the strong experience became a resource to these interviewees. Remembering the ecstasy gave them access to those positive emotions once more, along with “power and confidence” (p. 534).
As part of their “harmony motivation,” interviewees made use of insights they’d gained during their IMEs. They mentioned that their values had changed or became clear; that they were inspired or increasingly committed to their art; that they felt a different meaning in life; and that they deepened relationships with others.
Participants also talked about deliberately analyzing their own experiences. The researchers believe that this active reflection is necessary for people to attribute any life changes to the experience in question. (So it’s safe to assume they’d love what we’re exploring here at The Afterparty, right?!)
Based on these interviews, Schäfer and colleagues suggest that the motivation for change is born from the high contrast between the harmonious experience and the comparative disharmony of people’s daily lives. So, it is not only the transcendent qualities of an intense experience, but also the sharpness of its differentness to one’s usual way of being that sparks an enduring transformation.
Would that mean that post-event depression is actually necessary if we are to grow after an important experience?
I am inclined to doubt that. We know that not everyone feels the blues after a peak experience, music-based or not. That doesn’t seem to be a barrier to exploring the self, strengthening relationships, using the memory as a resource for inspiration and engagement, or finding a deeper significance to the experience and to life.
However, it’s very likely that contrast is key to catalyzing change, regardless of whether that contrast makes us feel sad.
Without stepping outside our normal ways of being, feeling, thinking, and doing, there is little opportunity for our attitudes and perspectives to shift. I think this is why in experience design we talk so much about immersion. Or even escapism. I like to use Priya Parker’s term, “temporary alternative worlds,” to think about the many varieties of designed experiences. We build and seek out these literal and figurative worlds to create contrast from the “real world.”
But ultimately, I think we do it because we are trying to make the real world better.
Party-starter guide: Harmony motivation
Participants might feel a kind of “harmony motivation” after an event you’ve designed. In other words, they might want to recreate or carry forward positive aspects of the experience into their normal lives. Consider ways to facilitate this as part of your post-event experience:
Through objects: mementos or useful items that can have a presence in people’s lives and represent their experience
Through memory triggers: photos and videos can prompt recall, helping people access the resource of their memory
Through community: spaces where the social norms and values related to the experience are upheld, where people can feel connected and belong
Afterparty talk
Does the harmony-disharmony pattern of intense experience resonate with you? Has an ecstatic experience ever prompted you to try to create more of that feeling in your daily life? What changes did you make, and did they last?
Party on
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References
Maslow, A. H. (1968). Music education and peak experience. Music Educators Journal, 54(6), 72-171.
Schäfer, T., Smukalla, M., & Oelker, S. (2014). How music changes our lives: A qualitative study of the long-term effects of intense musical experiences. Psychology of Music, 42(4), 525-544. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735613482024
Love reading and learning these things…the power of music! I feel many emotions - a bit sad when event is over but mostly elated, inspired and grateful I’m able to have these experiences - and memories. I raised my daughters with music as a way to feel joy in many ways and bonding. Thankfully with music you don’t always need to ‘go’ to an event - it’s almost always there like a friend💜