The Power of Resonance

In a fast-paced world

The Palouse, Eastern Washington State

“Resonance occurs when our being responds to what we have seen in a deep way, so that our body and mind are fully engaged; we have physical sensations, and our hearts open and we feel joy in the act of connecting. Resonation is an expression of our innate wisdom as it connects to our world.” ~ Julie duBose, Effortless Beauty

I’m sure you’ve had the experience of meeting someone new and feeling an immediate connection. Or, you’re visiting a new place and something about it feels familiar, like home. I’ve felt that in Ireland and also the Palouse area of Washington State, shown above. Or, you feel pulled towards something, like a magnet. I live within walking distance of Lake Ontario and I often feel that pull towards the lake on my daily walks. These are all examples of resonance, a moment of connection where you feel like something significant is happening.

I’ve written often about resonance in terms of a photograph being a visual representation of a resonant encounter but I learned so much more about the topic in the book, Resonance, by Harmut Rosa. I recently finished reading this long, academic work that outlines a sociology of our relationships with the world; world in this case meaning “the people, things, nature, the Universe, history, God, life, even one’s own body and emotions, that we interact with every day.”

His premise is that we live in this modern society, where everything is always accelerating and constant growth is fundamental. Paradoxically, this may be the root of many of the crises we’re facing - ecological and economic, along with general feelings of alienation or disconnection. Rosa dives deeply into the history of modernity and how this constant acceleration affects the world. While many people focus on deceleration or degrowth as an antidote, Rosa believes that, in fact, resonance may be the solution to the many crises we face. 

The purpose of this essay is to simply define resonance and get you to notice where it shows up in your life and where it doesn’t. It all comes down to how you relate to the world, as manifested through your interactions with people and place.

What is resonance? 

I’ve been noticing lately that the word “resonate” comes up often in conversations, mostly as “that resonates with me.” I think that most people use it in a way that means they’re in agreement or that it feels right or makes sense. Yet, resonance is not just that; it goes much deeper.

At its root, resonance means to re-sound. Scientifically, it’s an acoustic phenomenon described in terms of sound vibrations. It occurs when two systems with similar frequencies are in close proximity and the energy from one vibrating system is transferred to the other, causing it to vibrate at its own frequency. For example, if one brings two tuning forks close together and strikes one of them, the other will ring out as a resonant effect. The important point here is that this resonant effect is not an echo of the first tuning fork. Each has its own frequency (or voice), and the second is a response to the first. 

Rosa writes about resonance from a sociological perspective, and he describes it similarly to science, as a dynamic relationship between two or more entities, where each has their own voice. They encounter each other and are transformed in some way. Each entity doesn’t know how they will be affected or how the other will respond. 

According to Rosa, humans (and most likely all living beings) are born with the capacity to experience resonance. Think of the way a baby calls out to and responds to their mother. It’s our primary way of being and relating in the world; 

Qualities of Resonance

Resonance is felt in the body. Something stops you in your tracks and you feel a vibration within. It may feel like a low hum or a jolt of electricity. You might feel a change in your heart rate or breathing or goosebumps on your skin that signal excitement. Maybe your eyes light up. It may feel like a pull towards something. You might feel overwhelmed with emotion, maybe even  a strong sense of relaxation or peace. Rosa says that resonance is not the same as an emotional state, but emotions may play a part in the experience.

Resonance is elusive and unpredictable. It often happens quite unexpectedly, while walking in nature, or during a conversation, or listening to music, or reading a book. You can’t force a resonant experience and it often unfolds in surprising ways. Because resonance involves a response from an entity with its own voice, there is always an element of inaccessibility about it. The other might not respond at all or not in the way you expect. 

Resonant experiences are temporary. They are ephemeral moments where something important is happening. They don’t last and there is a different sense of time; it may feel as if time stops or is suspended. In fact, time becomes immaterial. 

Resonance is based on something you value. We all respond to people, things, situations, in different ways, depending on our own associated memories and experiences. Rosa says that resonance occurs when you encounter something you consider to be important or meaningful in the world, what he calls your “strong evaluations.” These are based on values that give your life meaning and direction, as opposed to your fears and desires, which are weak evaluations. He gives the example of wanting a beer (desire) versus staying sober (value). 

These strong evaluations are culturally defined and sometimes they contradict your fears and desires. Resonant experiences happen when strong and weak evaluations, or values and desires, coincide. You encounter something that means something to you and speaks with its own voice. Mind and body, self and world, enter into what Rosa calls “a 3-note chord where body, mind, and world converge.” Often in these moments, our own desires or self-ness takes a back seat and the moment is allowed to unfold on its own.

Resonance is about adaptive transformation, not necessarily agreement. Resonance requires being open enough to hear and listen to others speak and a willingness to be touched, yet at the same time closed enough to speak with your own voice and know that you have agency in the situation. Resonance is not an echo chamber; it’s not about agreement or harmony. It invites contradiction, even disagreement. 

For me, resonance is a deep feeling of connection where the world speaks to me in some way and I’m listening intently. I feel moved by the encounter and it changes me in some way. The moment often causes me to respond, whether through action or creation or simple gratitude. No matter what, the experience becomes a part of me and informs the way I relate to the world moving forward.

Alienation is the opposite of resonance. It’s a feeling of disconnection, and a consequence of a society where there is constant acceleration and growth, where things and people are only valued for their use, where time feels scarce, and competition rules. When alienation is present, the world feels indifferent and non-responsive, sometimes hostile or threatening. You don’t believe in your own ability to be heard or to have an impact. When something says nothing to us, then there is no relationship. This disposition towards alienation is learned.

In the midst of everyday life, we will all face these silent or indifferent relationships to the world at times. If someone feels alienated most or all of the time, they may be suffering from depression. Rosa says that people feel the least alienated when they lose control over themselves, their lives, or their circumstances, for example, falling in love, or being overpowered by music or a political idea or nature. 

Do you approach the world with vulnerability and trust, open to resonance, where you can respond to whatever you’re confronted with, no matter how strange or unfamiliar, with curiosity and faith that you can respond and be heard? Or, do you experience the world as hostile or resistant and any action has to involve mastering, controlling, or dominating? Maybe a bit of both?

Resonant Relationships and Axes of Resonance

We’ve been talking about moments of resonance and these happen most in our important relationships. In a resonant relationship, there is a mutual back and forth, a dialogue between two bodies where each values the other and what they have to say. In other words, these relationships are reciprocal, not fixed but fluid, with mutual respect on both sides. We’re willing to be changed by the other and we know that they are willing to be changed by us. This kind of relationship builds trust over time. 

Resonant relationships are not only with other humans. To have a variety of resonant relationships requires what Rosa calls  “axes of resonance” in all aspects of the world - horizontal, diagonal, and vertical. Some of these relationships will also be sources of alienation rather than resonance.

Horizontal includes all of our social relationships, including family, friends, other living beings, and even the political sphere. 

Diagonal includes our relationships to the world of things and how they speak to us. They manifest through the work we do, experiences in school, and participation in sports, as well as the way we consume things. 

Vertical includes our relationships to life, God, existence, or the world as a whole. Many people turn to religion or spirituality as a place of resonance where a higher power speaks to them in some way. In modern culture, nature and art have also become sources of resonance. 

Another way to experience vertical resonance is through recognizing history in the present moment; when the past is experienced as co-present, connected with both present and future, in a sort of conversation. You suddenly see how the past has created the present and how the present is shaping the future. This can trigger a sense of obligation to act in the shaping of that future. 

All of our worldly relationships evolve from emotionally meaningful, resonant experiences with things or beings we value. However, they can’t be reduced to strictly emotion or sentimentality or a feeling of peace and harmony. They are not about being in echo chambers. True resonance has to involve some form of tension and ultimately transformation.

Things or people we value are treated with respect and love. A moment of resonance feels like there is a vibrating wire between us and them. However, even if resonant relationships are formed from love, they may not always feel resonant. Rosa says that it’s not about whether you love or are loved, but about “the moments of mutual, transformative, fluid, affecting encounter” that you share.    

A good, long-time friend of mine is a poet and painter and we began a collaborative project during the pandemic. Most every week, either I would send her a photograph, for which she responded with a poem or she would send me a poem she had written and I would respond with a photograph. It was a wonderful example of a resonant relationship because it deepened our connection over time and there was ongoing mutual respect for each others’ contributions. The output was surprising and greater than the sum of the parts.

Examples of Resonance

For me, resonant moments happen most often when I’m photographing. At these times, I’m in a state of relaxation, open to whatever I might encounter. Ideally, I’m listening for what might speak to me and nothing is off limits; everything has value. I allow myself to be touched and moved to make a photograph to honor the encounter.

According to Rosa, the process of making or shaping things gives us a sense of agency through action. We develop relationships with objects or things as we spend time creating, altering, cleaning, or manipulating them in some way. Whether through gardening, baking, woodworking, or playing an instrument, the material speaks with its own voice as it is transformed, either being responsive and malleable or resistant and surprising. It takes time and practice working with a material before we develop a resonant relationship with it and achieve some skill in the work. 

In the world of sports or pursuing some kind of athletic activity, a person can begin to listen to their own body and learn how to work with it and tune it. This relationship is a form of resonant conversation between body and mind and it takes time and a willingness to push yourself to see change happen. 

When I was a kid, I experienced this form of resonance at the ice rink. I just loved to skate and because of that I worked towards goals, taking tests and moving up levels, through practice. But, those were extrinsic interests. Mostly, I skated because something inside of me just loved being on the ice, moving my body, gliding on a single blade, and feeling the cool air on my face. 

Music and sports, especially in a concert or stadium, can be a universal bonding agent, where we experience “collective effervescence” with others, most of whom are strangers. Ask any Taylor Swift or Beyoncé fan about this! I know for me that hearing live music with others can often result in this type of resonant experience, which is why I try to hear as much live music as I can. But it’s never guaranteed.

When you’re touched by nature or art, whether sitting by a lake or in a national park or listening to the birds in your backyard or viewing a painting, reading a book, watching a movie or a dance performance, you can sometimes be changed internally as you take in the moment. I often feel this internal movement when reading a life-changing book like Resonance or watching a powerful movie like Past Lives or listening to a beautiful piece of music like Jon Batiste’s Freedom.

Rosa cites the practice of choral singing as something that can activate all three axes of resonance at once and I know exactly what he means. It can (but not always) activate diagonal resonances with the space, horizontal resonance between the singers, and vertical resonance between your own body and mind. This same thing can happen when dancing with others or playing music together.

Summary

While resonant experiences cannot be manufactured, they can be blocked in a fast-paced competitive world, where there is a felt scarcity of time. According to Rosa, overcoming this constant acceleration and changing our relationship to the world may be the central challenge we face today. 

It requires a shift from dominating and controlling the world to listening and responding to it. We do this, not through analyzing or learning or putting resonance on our to do list. This is impossible and goes against the very unpredictable nature of resonance. However, we can practice loving the world and establishing oases or paths of potential for resonance to occur in all areas - home, job, partner, aesthetic practices, and the communities of which we are a part.

I hope this essay has helped you look at resonance in a new way. I’d love to know how you’ve experienced resonance lately. And, where and when do you feel alienated? How can you create more oases of resonance in your life?

NOTE: Here is an excellent post by Anne Helen Peterson about the use of the word ‘resonate’ from a grammatical standpoint. In a nutshell, you don’t resonate with something, something resonates with you.