If you spend any amount of time in San Francisco, you will feel the creative spirit that is a part of everything around you. The architecture, murals, fashion, festivals, and music all give testimony to this drive that entices everyone who lives here or visits to make something unique and genuine. For example, All you have to do is visit a few restaurants before you come across that delectable combination of ingredients that San Franciscans like to call California Fusion. Local chefs take traditional recipes from around the world and experiment in ways that make it a whole new dish. A perfect example is all the ways that calamari is prepared in the city.
In San Francisco, everyone also seems to have a hobby, and there is a large focus on people doing something outside of the normal work day. Several individuals may introduce themselves as writers, designers, or musicians who are just posing as teachers, bankers, clerks, etc. It is the work-life balance that many places in the United States talk about, but San Francisco puts into practice.
Everyone has a creative spark that lies in them. Here in the city, you can find all sorts of courses that will spark your interest and help you to court the muse. There are numerous community education organizations and businesses devoted to such things as sewing, knitting, sailing, drawing, blogging, writing, making music, design, programming, gardening, pottery, photography, stained glass, etc. If you can dream it, you can make it.
What causes this city to be driven by such a strong inventive urge? Maybe it is the ghosts of all the movies and books that refer to San Francisco locations. You don't have to go far to recognize a place that was used in a novel or on the big screen. For example, some may say that Michael Toliver and Mary Ann Singleton still lurk around the corners of the Castro and Russian Hill districts. Maybe this urge arises from extreme beauty of the hills, ocean, and bay that at times borders on too much for the senses to take in. Being around such a wealth of natural beauty stimulates a person's imagination.
There are a few other places like this in the United States. All you have to do is visit Santa Fe and you will feel this same inspiration. This city, like San Francisco, encourages one to sit down and write a novel the quality of "Death Comes for the Archbishop," by Willa Cather. Of course, not everyone can succeed in this task to that level of excellence, but that is not the point.
It is often the act of creating that is more important than the actual product, especially here in the city. The real product is not the vase, but the insights and knowledge the artist receives in the making of the vase. Some of the best artists with the most innovative spirits will never be famous. These are the hobbyists that eventually learn that they are the art piece, not the vase. San Francisco promotes the idea that we are at our best when we create and invent. Maybe, just maybe the meaning of life is to discover yourself and your relationship to others by using your imagination and engaging in the art of creation. All you have to do is look at the art pieces of ancient civilizations to realize that there has always been this human drive to create something even if it is on the most menial of objects, such as a water bowl.
Come to San Francisco, spark your imagination, and get in touch with your primal urge to build, design, and innovate. Soon you may be one of those people who introduces themselves as a musician that happens to sell houses during the day.
Cheers!
Mike
