Chills

10 Jun, 2024

On Saturday night, I spent an hour at one of my favorite bars in Boston, The Bebop, listening to live music. The Bebop has hosted some of the most talented musicians I’ve ever seen -- typically students from the Berklee College of Music. On Saturday night, it was a student named George. George spent most of the evening playing acoustic guitar but for the final 10 minutes switched to piano to play “Piano Man.”

The first few notes got me. Instant chills.

It made me reflect on the whole experience of getting chills, and prompted me to jot down a short list of moments that, for me, evoke a similar reaction.

• The shofar blast on Yom Kippur
• The Masters theme song
• When Jim Nantz says “Hello friends” on Sunday afternoons
• When LSU's Golden Band From Tigerland hits those 4 notes
• The scene in Shawshank where Andy says “Get busy living, or get busy dying”

I suspect chills are a singular human experience. A visceral, uncontrollable reaction to excellence, redemption, elite performance, moments of extreme nostalgia or awe. I doubt animals are capable of experiencing anything similar. If aliens are out there, I doubt they're capable either. The idea that something out in the world could be sufficiently delicious to cause your hairs to stand up and goosebumps to spread over your body... it’s the most remarkable thing. We should aim to do things, watch things, surround ourselves with things that are "chills-inducing". And when we experience chills, we should be thankful. There's nothing like it.