A N O T E F R O M T H E G U E S T E D I T O R | C O R O N A D O C U LT U R A L A R T S C O M M I S S I O N
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ever in our lifetime had we experienced such a total paradigm shift of reality as the one thrust upon us when we realized that this “COVID-19 thing” wasn’t just a little virus, but a global pandemic. We reacted like deer in the headlights — initially frozen by fear of the unknown and later by lockdowns. Everything we thought we knew, every way we experienced life, changed almost overnight and we were forced to adapt. Watered by the silence that suddenly surrounded us, seeds of imagination began to blossom into creativity and innovation. If necessity is the mother of invention, then surely the pandemic became the father of creativity. Physically confined to our homes, our imaginations ran wild and creativity broke free. Creativity allowed us to express our frustrations, cope with heartache and loss, and deal with the chaos which surrounded us. We wrote, we sang, we danced, we did art projects. We made videos, we created the perfect sourdough starter and most importantly, we found new ways to do old things, reimagining work, school and how we connect with one another. The pandemic brought hardship on a global scale, but it also opened doors we never knew existed. Working from home, we learned to embrace online meetings (Zoom went from 10M users to 300M in 2020). Suddenly, everything seemed to go virtual and many of us started living through the internet instead of in the outside world. In 2020-21
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CROWN CITY MAGAZINE
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APRIL 2022
YouTube usage exploded, fed by a steady diet of creativity (1.9B individual users; 14.3B views/month). Breaking through our isolation, we found we could connect on YouTube’s “#with me” to foster a shared experience. We could find entertainment and take classes on just about anything and even post our own videos — viewer feedback generated another source of connection. We embraced our own creativity to process changes in the world around us and as a way to create meaning where there was none. We used it to entertain, to comfort ourselves and others and to provide an antidote to the chaos of our shared experience. As we move into a new tomorrow, we know there are no guarantees and that it doesn’t take much to knock us back into the soup. What we do know, with absolute certainty is that the creative spirit is alive and well. While we might have once thought it the province of only artists and other “creatives,” we have learned that creativity lives in all of us — it is the human spirit looking for a way to express itself. In April we are celebrating “Arts, Culture and Creativity” so why don’t you unleash your imagination, let your creativity out to play and come be inspired, as Coronado’s creative community helps us get back to joy, laughter and life! See page 16 for local events happening in April. - Heidi Wilson, Cultural Arts Commission Chair
PHOTO TAKEN IN CORONADO BY KATIE KAROSICH
Creativity: Antidote to Chaos
