This is my entry for @sndbox 's About My Culture contest.
My Culture
I live in a busy suburban town wedged inbetween the English countryside, not far from London in the UK. Brighton is my closest city, and is the owner of my heart. It is where I spend the majority of my time and have done since I can remember. I've lived, worked and studied in this vibrant city full to the brim with creative individuals of all kinds.
Life in Brighton is never dull, and is full of many surprises. One of the reasons I love it so much is because you never know what to expect. Last night for example, I was walking through town after attending a friend's performance at an open mic, it was a Sunday evening around 11pm, I came across a small group having a drum and bass 'rave' in a park on a high street.
My crew doing what they best and bringing about positive vibes with great music!
For those from Brighton or the surrounding areas, or anywhere similar perhaps, this is a normal occurrence. For an outsider, it might be a bit overwhelming at first. But after you get used to the area, you start to love it's random moments. There are no limits in Brighton, and everybody has such an approachable mindset. It's fantastic. You are free to do what you want, whether that be create, inspire or teach. There is so much opportunity for anyone wanting to grow within the community.
It was here that I found my community of creative, free minded people, in the most unexpected way. I was introduced to this particular group, with the potentional to create a music video for a band. After I'd met everyone, I found myself diving head first into the community, and already in such a short space of time I have made so many priceless friendships as well as projects to work on. It's opened me up to a whole new way of life, and I'm so excited about it I just had to share it as my culture's topic.
Which is...
My Topic - Peaceful Vibes
One of the most important things about Brighton is the positive vibes and general mindset of the majority of it's community. Everyone shares the same motivation, a positive, peaceful and fulfilling life. There are a lot of hard workers, and everyone has an open mind. This make's it one of the best places to really let loose and find out who you are. Unfair judgment really is a thing of the past in this city, in fact you will only be looked down on for looking down on others!
Vibrant Brighton beach huts, image from Pixabay
The community I have found myself becoming part of is based on freedom of expression, creativity and having a bloody good time. Everyone I have met so far has been welcoming and supportive, and recently I've been having some of the best times of my life being involved in such a inspiring movement. Diversity is a huge part of the culture and lifestyle, and everywhere you go you will discover something unique and promising.
You find some of the most amazing events in the hub of this city. I was invited to a friend's gig the other day, so I grabbed my camera and my audio partner, and we headed along to a local pub. The first thing he pointed out to me was 'oh look, a gay flag, is this a gay pub then?'. I was really confused. No, it's not a gay pub! It's in BRIGHTON, the world's gay capital for crying out loud! Pretty much the entire of Brighton is either bi, gay, or atleast open minded and not against it.
Anyway that wasn't my point here. We entered the gig expecting what, we as music industry workers had become to know as a 'gig', the typical gig set up, a stage, a band, a bar and a crowd. Yeah, feck that, we're in Brighton. The first thing I saw was a circle of around 15 individuals with no shoes on, sitting in a circle chanting. If this was anywhere else, I might have been concerned. I just reacted with a belly laugh, and sunk into the magical world of not giving a damn. About anything. And what a brilliant night it was, dancing my socks off with a Lionman, Julius Ceaser and several other memorable characters. It was a gig, but it wasn't a gig. It was like walking into a hippie festival in a pub, I felt like I was in the blazing sun in a field somewhere. Not in a dinky pub whilst it was snowing outside.
Beautiful Brighton Street, image from pixabay
The feeling I got from that night is the best way I could think of to describe the feeling this town gives out. Nothing but love, forgiveness and good spirit. No one in that pub gave a sh!t about your past and what you may have done wrong, all they cared about was spreading the vibes and enjoying themselves! There was no judgement, and I felt free to be myself. Leading me to why...
I Picked This Topic
Because working hard to push the negativity to the back of my head, and let the positive thinking come through stronger has really helped me to develop as an individual. Adopting an unfamiliar mindset has helped me to overcome some of my biggest personal issues and it is so empowering. Just being involved in the community has broadened my horizons and opened up so many opportunities for me.
And I know that this is a huge part of being involved for the majority of the community. It's about moving forward with life despite the hiccups, in the most productive and expressive way possible, whilst making some incredible lifelong friends along the way. We all want the same thing here, a fairer, easier, more enjoyable, simple life! But we all want to inspire change. We want to see the best for ourselves and the people around us, and we do everything we can to encourage each other.
What Makes This Special to Our Local Culture
Positive thinking is a vital factor in being a Brightonian and I honestly can't imagine Brighton in a different mindset. It adds to every element of our community from art and creativity to lifestyle and finance. This town is all about finding something that works for you, falling in love with it and chasing your dreams. This simply wouldn't be without the drive to keep calm, succeed and achieve, all powered by positive thoughts of course!
Image from Pixabay
Yes, we are human and we all have our up and our down days, but in Brighton it's about embracing those down days, and accepting them as part of being human, picking up the dirt and carrying on with a smile on your face. It could be worse. It could be better. It is what it is, so let's do our best to make it as great as we can.
All images are mine or are licensed under the creative commons public domain license.
