All of us have witnessed events that pay a lot of attention on clapping. In fact in one of such gatherings, I clapped so hard that at the end of it my hands were left a bit itchy. While driving back home (that’s when the best ideas happen to me), I was thinking to myself: What made me clap to such an extent? Was i over-reacting? What made me put so much of my energy into such a clichéd activity? Thankfully, I didn’t stop at these questions and decided to dig deeper.
We often hear about the benefits associated with clapping, the most common is the one that it helps you to regulate blood pressure. But I am not going to talk about this or any other health aspects, rather present some facts that I found interesting:
- Clapping is considered as most significant form of non-vocal noise human beings can create.
- In some countries, the act is counted as a form of disrespect towards people who are differently-abled, or the ones who are sensitive to noise.
- Chinese consider clapping as a form of greeting, particularly when it’s done in a soft way while keeping your hands horizontal to the floor.
After reading all of that from several sources on the internet, I understood that clapping is really a big topic and there are other strange people in the world, like me, who have paid great attention to it. But I wanted to the bigger question answered as to why it is projected as a form of appreciation? Why not any other action- for example: everyone standing on heads (will be a good exercise too!!) or maybe something else. The following is what I gathered so far.
The word clap can be actually be considered as an acronym where:
- C stands for Connect
- L is for Loud
- A for Attention
- P is for Power
Let’s understand more about these key pointers.
Why C for Connect?
Clapping creates a connection between the performers and audience. That gives you as an audience the opportunity to converse with performers to say- hey! yes we are here and listening. The action of clapping is also synonymous to patting someone’s back from a distance. Not everyone can tap the shoulder of the speaker, so they just prefer to tap the other hand.
Next is L for Loud.
The louder your clap goes, the more energetic you feel. Did you ever wonder why? So, while clapping you basically compress the air between your two hands- the faster you compress, the more sound it creates- and all of us know what effect sound can have on us. Listening to romantic songs makes us feel completely different from when a dance number plays. The effect sound of clapping has on us is to break any kind of stagnant energy within ourselves or even in the room that we are in.
Then comes A for Attention.
Attention is also an aspect of how we feel mentally about clapping. Once we as an audience clap, we demonstrate a mind switch ready to be able to move from one topic, act or performer to another. This shifting of attention is needed to indicate that all our bodily resources are ready to imbibe a new piece of information.
Lastly P is for Power.
Clapping is a sign of the power of solidarity, power of unity that we all are together to create a sound and a rhythm that spreads positivity in our world. Since hands are considered as sub-energy centers of heart, clapping opens us to give and receive more love, more postive vibes amongst each other.
So, when you attend such events in the future, remember to clap your way out to spread energy, positivity, happiness and appreciation.