Date: Thu, 02 Mar 95 15:08:50
From: Alissa Feinberg <AFEINBER@sybex.com>
OK, here goes a little background for persepective: went to a few raves with a friend a couple o' years ago (been meaning to get out again but combination of overwork, shyness, and life problems keeps me close to home...don't want to bring my downer side o' life to a party!)
What I got from those few experiences is a profound sense of connectedness with people, especially people whom I had never met before. I carried that feeling into my daily life _ a faith or emphasis on being positive, seeking the good in all things, the desire to seek out and celebrate the goodness in all people. Then the interconnectedness with nature, the world at large, all things. Karma-ish? yeah, kinda. Spiritual? definately. Beautiful? of course!
raving goes way beyond what words can express.
_like great art, great music, great _
take care,
Alissa
That's totally what I feel! No matter who you are, you feel a sense of "connectedness" with all those around you. Your energy becomes part of a greater circle of energy and love. You feel free to be who you have always wanted to be, because nobody is judging you. They're experiencing the exact same rush of happiness =) And when you leave the rave, you carry that free spirit and high energy out with you. You incorporate it into all facets of life, making things a little bit better.
I have also gotten really close to nature. The world around us is just so beautiful. The variety of plants and animals living with us blows my mind. They are all coexisting in harmony, a feat humans have been unable to fully achieve. I find it really sad that congress does not share my feelings. Their new legislation is aimed at severely cutting back or eliminating most of the environmental laws we have for the sake of business. The Clean Water Act and many others are going to be toned down a lot if they get their way, making way for lots more pollution. All this for the capitalistic dream of earning more profit. IT is sad.
Well, the point is, that raves have allowed me to "touch base" with reality and humanity. Capitalism sucks. People are beautiful. People ought to tell other people that they are beautiful more often. The love and bonding experienced at raves needs to be carried out into the world. We are the visionaries, and it is our job to slowly change society. There was a Women's movement, a sexual revolution, and many other giant steps made by previous generations. It is now time for the next revolution, the one back to realizing the beaity of humanity. To quote from Star Terk, Deep Space Nine, "Greed is Dead." There were a couple other good ones too, but i forgot 'em.
The thing i hate about words, is that that is all they are, words. I hate writing about making change, because the whole time i am sitting on my butt, doing nothing. I better end my letter with this then. Help extend our experiences outside of the rave subculture. All it takes is a smile to start with, maybe a hug. LOVE!!! I'll begin by sending a warm, fuzzy, energetic loving hug to all of you =). Share it with others!
Luv,
Rob McCord (BR '98)
From: bmcgonig@pacific.abbotthpd.com (Brian McGonigle)
What I got from those few experiences is a profound sense of connectedness with people, especially people whom I had never met before.
What is the connection? one may ask (well this "one" did:)
One thing I'm sure of is that we all *love* the music. Whether it's techno or trance or house or whatever.. I personally am *addicted* to the music. I (and some others I have talked to) get goosebumps sometimes during a set or even driving down the road listening to our latest mix tape. One dj friend last week said that he sometimes cries..actually gets tears in his eyes.. when he hears some music.. or watches an awesome dj do a superb mix. The only thing that I would have gotten this emotional reaction heretofore was something like Beethovens 9th "Ode To Joy"...
Anyway... when I hear some great song that gives me this emotional reaction, I sometimes look around at people and u smile and get that smile back. You both know what ur smiling at.. then I feel the connectedness that Alissa talks about... mebbe they feel the same "goosebumps" I do. And then I realize that here we all are, from vastly diverse backgrounds, "ageless ravers" like me, young ravers like Zack/Elf/Vladimir, people that would normally have little, if anything, in common all having the same reaction to a dj's mix...
Now thats cool :)
hugz
brian
From: Jonathan Tea <solrvibe@bga.com>
I know these concepts come up a couple times a year, but I'm always glad to see when they do. It restores my faith that people are still doing this for the right reasons. Okay, we *all* love the music: that's a given. But it gives me renewed strength to hear from others who see this as more than a party. Hell yeah it's a party! But hopefully at least some of those emotions you feel will carry over into your everyday life. That energy and love is what's going to change the world, not the government. It happens one person at a time and if you don't think it makes a difference, you're fooling yourself.
3 years ago I was bitter... a real cynic. Somehow I got pulled into raving and it changed my attitude and my whole life. Don't tell me that most of you weren't affected positively in some way by raving. What changed you? The music? Maybe. The people? Most definitely.
Keep this in mind in your real life. It takes so little to keep the positive energy flowing and so much to fuel the negative. More and more people are opening their eyes everyday. Have faith. Have fun. It's GOING to happen.
vibrating at the speed of love
solarvibe
From: cs9025@wlv.ac.uk (Michael Thomas)
Subject: What's the deal
Date: 31 May 1995 16:26:42 GMT
I have a cousine that's into this stuff and I can't understand her. What's the attraction of this music? It all sounds like boring beats, and cheesy synthesizer music to me. As a music lover, I would like to understand this. (this is not an attack, i merely want to understand why so many people like my cousine are in to it.)
I didn't understand raves either, until I went to Glastonbury'94 (a festival in britain for our trans-atlantic friends). I had been really down for a few months (seriously depressed) and wasn't looking forward to the whole thing, but when I got there the feeling (vibe?) I got from dancing at one of the rave tents, and the warmth and friendliness of everyone made me feel great.
As far as the music goes there is a hypnotic quality that you can only understand by dancing to it. Before, when I used to go to dances I didn't DANCE, I would just drink or look at women etc, now I dance and it makes sense. One of the best experiences of my life was dancing at Glastonbury and feeling as though my dancing was making the music happen for everyone else, not vice versa.
There is some musicality to rave music, but the thrill isn't cerebral it's emotional. Because the tracks are so repetitive, any change has a profound affect on your mood. You feel as though you have been woken from a trance, and when the bass kicks in again you feel elated and dance yourself into a trance all over again.
Anyway that's the deal as far as this part-time raver is concerned. I'm off to Glastonbury with my dancing trousers on!
Mike