Lights, Camera, Imagine
Recently Baltimore was blessed with the presence of the awe inspiring light show. Every night, every weekend, for the past couple of weeks, people came from all over Maryland to witness the imagined creativity that some artistic genius created from thin air, or probably more likely, from deep within their realms of imagination. Unfortunately I was not one of these people who got to witness the glorious beauty in the moment. I did however get to puruse through the endless pictures posted on social media while I sat in the traffic the light show had created (yes, I was a tad bitter).
A part of me, while I sat there in traffic literally on the road right across from the show but was prohibited from seeing due to giant skyscrapers, wondered if I would be happier just imagining what the show was like for myself, instead of being able to actually see it through everyone else’s eyes in the way they captured and imagined it? I was a little bit jealous, but at the same time I was somewhat grateful for the endless media outlets I had to witness it. All I had to do then was use a little imagination, piece the images together, and I could slightly pretend like I had been there. But the reality was, I hadn’t. No amount of imagination or posted pictures could have changed that. However, I was grateful that if I did not have the chance to go, I at least had the chance to see how others enjoyed it, how they captured the moment.
Aside from the obvious of social media outlets blowing up with images from the show, sharing an awesome experience, one thing that has to be recognized is the pure imagination set within the light show itself. The raw creativity that stemmed from the lights and the display and the mere idea that someone thought to imagine this whole set up using massive forms of technology. What they created could have been endless. In a world where a lot of ideas and information are just handed to us or put on display easily at our disposal, we forget the hardwork that goes into creating these things for us to enjoy. While technology creates things quickly and simply for us, the raw beauty of what the mind comes up with and creates cannot be lost. The lights did not just magically appear there and the beautiful displays in which they created a magical experience were once the ideas rattling around inside someone’s head as they imagined ways to put the people in awe.
My point from all this, is that creativity and imagination are not completely lost among technology, if anything this light show only stimulates the idea that it helps contribute to it. Among that, it flows into a greater network where aspects such as social media and posting pictures helps share this creativity and spark peoples’ enjoyment of it. Shows such as this one take images or sensations the mind can normally only imagine and turns them into a slight reality that for just a second one can revel in and appreciate. Without this use of technology, could we even get there? Would we even be able to reach this climax of mental creativity and share it among ourselves? Probably not.
