One raver's story

It is Saturday night. It’s one in the morning now.  You are in Berlin sitting in U-bahn. Chattering of heightened voices and laughters around is merging into one mutual excitement. “Nächster Halt: Warschauer Straße”. The train stops and the mass goes out. You open your map app to check the route and start following it. At some point you notice that most people from the Bahn are also following this direction. You’re smiling to yourself feeling somehow already included in this subconscious mutual flow.

A few more minutes of walking and you see the big line of agitated people. Again, this buzz of mutual excitement is swirling in the air. You take your place in the end of the line feeling a little bit socially awkward. As you always do, though. It’s been with you forever. But then you see these kind smiling eyes looking at you. Small talks, jokes, sincere laughters, and your awkwardness ceases slowly. You know it will go away completely once you are there. You just need to close your eyes and set for a journey. It’s been a harsh couple of months of stress, capitalistic demands, looking for meaning and a bunch of inner transformations. It seems that you even feel slightly aggressive, or anxious, or insecure, or maybe it is a mixture of everything. Your mind wants to let it all go... 

Finally, you are inside. At raves there are always two main categories of people. The first one are people who come to hang out with friends, socialize or find a date. The second category are the ones who just want to get lost in music and dance. There is also another category, which comprises people who have no idea what they are doing there. These latter ones are neither dancing nor socializing – they are just walking back and forth  looking for something, only God knows what. Lastly, there are so called silent observers, who just prefer to watch other people having fun. For the variety of reasons, a person can migrate between these different categories throughout one night. However, you have always been true devotee of the group number two. Thus, the plan is quite simple: going to the dance floor, finding a bit of a space in the crowd and taking off.

At last, you are here and now. There are no tasks or demands for the next couple of hours. There is neither past nor future. You are ready to get intimate with music. Your eyes are shut, but heart exposed. Deep beats are piercing your body. Écoutez et répétez. Listen and repeat. What about the others? They are also on a journey. Everyone has their own path to the unity with music. Your body slowly attains the form of rhythms. Your mind is filled with ever-changing sounds and patterns. Big fusion is coming. Your body no longer belongs to you. Music is in charge now. You are a part of some wild tribe now. All of you take one form. All of you are deeply connected by the subtle web of ancient instincts. From time immemorial human beings are dancing together. It is in the core of our bones. There is no need for words or special movements. Trust the rhythm. Rhythm. Rhythm. Rhythm. Rhythm. Rhythm. Rhythm. Rhythm’s changing. The form is changing. The tribe is changing. You make no efforts. Everything is done by itself in sweet forgetfulness of sounds. You know nothing. You mean nothing. One mind. One flow. One wild tribe vibrating.  The air is boiling. The mind is lost. The boundaries are broken. The norm does not exist anymore. It’s all about rhythm and movement and constant change of these two...

At some point you check your phone – it’s half past six in the morning. Your body is coming back to you, and you feel that you are tired. It’s time to go home and get some rest. You feel satisfied and your mind is empty. All worries and complexities have been dissolved in that mayhem. They will come back for sure. The demands of this world are waiting for you out there. But for now you are free... 

This is just one story out of hundreds of thousands. They all are different and unique. Anyway, freedom of expression, oblivion of worldly affairs and this subtle sense of oneness are some common ground young people are being so massively drawn to.