Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side. (350 Words)
The lighting was dim and the air was heavy with the smell of incense. My friend and I stood on a makeshift platform at the head of a large dining hall. Candles flickered at each table, illuminating an elderly couple eagerly staring up at us. The accompanying music turned on, and notes flowed out of my saxophone and my friend’s violin, transporting the room back to 1969 with Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. The otherwise reserved seniors rose and began dancing, and even those with dementia closed their eyes and tapped their feet to the sound of the beat. In my experience music is a personal and unhindered form of expression that is just as universal as human emotion. I love classic rock and jazz, which is precisely why I started this band, Blast From the Past, bringing these fantastic tunes back to seniors at local assisted living facilities.
Nature photography, another one of my artistic passions, is the visual equivalent of the most perfect music. On a cold crisp morning in early spring, I, along with my trusted camera, hiked the isolated cliffs of Big Sur’s coastline. At this time of day, the mountains emulate a picture of serenity, the cerulean waves softly washing over the polished stones below and a cool light breeze gently whistling through the passes. As I tramped down the slopes around Lafler Canyon, I spotted what might, to the untrained eye, appear to be a military jet. A large, male condor soared overhead. Identifying the bird, I hiked to higher ground to get a good vantage point. All at once, it plunged. Gears whirred in my camera as I cranked up the shutter speed, tracking the bird as it dove toward the sea. The soft, evening light caught its jet-black body, pronouncing the white patch on its under-wing and the definition of its face. The birds came in focus. Click!
Nature photography and music give me a sense of peace and excitement, the likes of which no other activities can replicate, creative pursuit that enriches my outlook of the world.