I feel freedom is more of a feeling than something you obtain. Freedom is only thinking about things that make you happy. I grew up in a community  where music and dance played a big part in everyone’s happiness. A lot of times, when we felt unfortunate or unmotivated, music was used as a cure and to cope. One memory that stands out when I think of freedom is when I was younger and my mom didn’t have a car. We would walk where we needed to go, but while we walked my mom would play music to keep me and my brother distracted. The music kept us entertained so we wouldn’t complain about walking.

When you look at my piece you will see a happy man dancing alone. He is dancing in clothing that pays homage to a relative that has passed. It shows him using music to cope and to think about the happy memories with his passed relative. Even though this man is completely isolated, he is still managing to create happiness for himself. I made these choices because I know a lot of people can relate to losing someone, and I know how important it is to have good memories with them.