As we walked up the stairs, I could see that the door was cracked open and a sliver of yellow light spilled out onto the pavement. I pushed open the door and was immediately greeted by smiles and words of welcome. I walked into the warm dorm room, leaving the cold night air outside.
For the next hour or so, I sat on the back of a couch, leaning against the wall behind me. People were sitting at my feet on the actual cushions of the couch, others were standing in the corner, some people were sitting on a futon, and three girls had managed to fit onto one chair. In front of us was a rather impressive setup for the space that it took up. Squeezed into a corner of the room was a drum set, keyboard, speakers and a single microphone that members of the band would pass around during the set.
This wasn’t the first dorm concert I’ve been to. Freshman year, my roommate asked me to go to one because a guy she liked was a part of the band playing, but she didn’t want to go alone. I went willingly and enjoyed the music, but it was also a little awkward because I didn’t know anyone there and dorm concerts are intimate settings. It was worth it, though, because those two people are now dating. If you think about it, they kind of owe me. Who knows what would have happened if I hadn’t gone with my roommate to the concert?
My experience at this dorm concert was totally different. Darius Mullin, a junior biology major, asked sophomores Lucas Brogdon and Austin Luttrell, who are both music majors, as well as Ben Trainor, who is a computer science major, to play with him. I think what made my experience so different from my last dorm concert was that I knew these people. They were my friends.
A dorm concert creates an atmosphere where it’s okay for the band members to joke around with each other and the audience. It’s okay to get up in the middle and grab dinosaur-shaped gummies. It’s okay for the band to mess up and for the audience to laugh with them and at them. Can you imagine what would happen if Ed Sheeran’s voice cracked or Taylor Swift forgot the words to her song in one of their stadium concerts? Yeah. . .awkward. But in dorm concerts, there’s no need for embarrassment or awkwardness. Someone’s voice cracks? It’s okay. At least you went for it. We’re still friends with you. You’re on the wrong rhythm or you forgot the words for that verse? Don’t worry about it. You can start over, and we’ll still cheer just as loudly at the end of the song.
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about creativity and the importance of sharing creativity. I was listening to a discussion in one of my classes where people were talking about the different situations where creativity flows best for them. As I listened to them talk, I started to get uncomfortable by how individualistic creativity can become. Because people are more creative under certain conditions than others and because those conditions change from person to person, it can be a temptation to think of creativity as an individual endeavor. Today, especially, creativity has become a way for people to process and de-stress. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this, but I do think it’s selfish to only be creative in private and to never share your creativity.
People thrive in community. It was not good for man to be alone, so God created Eve to give Adam companionship. God commands us to look after those without a community—widows and orphans. We are supposed to give them community. We have community all around us: in our families, churches, workplaces and schools. And, in those communities, we reflect the image of God to each other. One of the characteristics of God is creativity. He was the first Creator, and all that we create flows from Him. It is selfish of us to keep our creativity to ourselves. When we do this, we deny each other the chance to know God more fully.
I think this is why I like dorm concerts so much. On the surface, it’s just a good time. It’s fun to listen to music and to dance and to hang out with friends. But, I also think something more meaningful is happening. We are gathering as the body of Christ to glorify Him through using the creativity He has given us and sharing it with each other. We are fulfilling our purpose as humans.