Heard of Lip Sync for Your Life? Try Howling for Your Health
You may have heard it on a bad day, sitting inside on your couch, just wishing you could see a friendly face. You may have seen news posts or Facebook posts about it or heard you friends talking. And you may have been walking down the street at 8 p.m., only to be greeted by the sounds of howls from all around.
No, wolves haven’t taken over the slowly reopening, abandoned city streets. Folks across the city, and now across the world, are joining together vocally at 8 p.m. every night, to howl. The phenomenon reached heights of global popularity, but it started right here in Denver.
The howling movement was started by local poet and literary journal editor Brice Maiurro and his partner, Shelsea Ochoa, who works at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
At first, it just started as a release and a way to connect with neighbors. Then, the Facebook group the two created began to grow, and it was clear that this was bigger than Maiurro and Ochoa, bigger than Denver, and bigger even than the virus. People were looking for a reason to howl, whether it was to stay sane, honor frontline workers, or connect with neighbors.
“We were talking about how in hippie towns, there are weird traditions like going outside and howling to show connection,” said Maiurro. “And so, we decided to start a group and get some friends involved, and then it grew really rapidly the next thing we knew.
The two never paid for advertising to grow the now-explosive Facebook group, and there was no grand plan to become a huge movement that joined people together. The idea was basically to connect, to do something that felt like a primal release, and what else was everyone doing?
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“It’s a public group, so that means we have all kinds of people,” Ochoa explained. “I think because howling is such a universal thing, it kind of predates cultures. There’s not one cultural group or one group of people that really identifies with it. I think all kinds of different people ended up doing it, which is cool.”
However, because of all these differing opinions, Maiurro and Ochoa found themselves in the position of moderating and trying to advocate for queer and marginalized folks on the forum. They have since closed commenting, but for a while, they were all working around the clock to balance what was said and done in the group.
“Thankfully, we have an amazing team of moderators,” Maiurro explained. “We’ve got about 25 moderators that are on the page hours every night. They talk to the press, and they approve posts. They also kick people out of the group when necessary. It’s ended up being a big learning curve, because I think when we started a group called ‘Go Outside and Howl at 8 p.m.,’ that the name itself would be self-explanatory, but then you get a lot of different people, and you have to start making a rule. Like, we decided, no political content, but then you have to decide what is political. It’s a lot more involved than I thought to run a group like this.”
“I never really knew how much of a bubble that I lived in before this page because at the beginning, I would approve posts and not even think about it,” Ochoa explained. “And now, I really see how much bigotry is still alive and well on the internet. So, if somebody wants to post something, for example, about being bisexual, we just make sure that we’re watching that so that no one is posting anything hateful.”
However, outside the world of Facebook, the howling has reached people in a way that can’t be tainted by internet politics. Folks in all 50 states in the U.S. and more than 100 countries are now howling for healthcare workers on the frontline, for their sanity, to feel a sense of unity, for those who have died, and for any number of things that need to be either celebrated or lamented.
“I’ve also seen a lot of the community rallied together in support of each other,” Ochoa said. “I think a lot of people, including myself, have felt very lonely during this time, and sometimes, people will make a post about having a hard day, and they get all of the support. That’s been really beautiful to me.
When asked why the two think howling caught on over some other expression of unity, Maiurro added, “I think there’s something wild to it. There’s something Western to it. I think that people have the chance to not hold back; it’s very direct and visceral. And that’s why animals howl, to stay connected over long distances and communicate.
But, like many other things during quarantine, the thoughts remain: will this go away when things go back do some sense of “normal”? Will we lose the will to howl once we’re back in the clubs, at the bars, or in shared public spaces? Maiurro and Ochoa don’t think so.
“I would say beyond a reasonable doubt that Chelsea and I will always howl,” Maiurro explained.
So, next time you hear the howls start at 8 p.m., set down what you’re doing, lean out the window, and give it a try. You’ll be glad you did.
Photos of howlers by Amanda Schwengel
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