(un)rest

I discover me creative unrest in the activities I love to do – singing, playing theatre, baking delicious cakes, teaching children... Where? Well, in Liepāja, of course!

The Liepāja creative unrest is the energy that enters you, and through the riddle of your creativeness must be transmitted back to the world and people. These outputs may not necessarily come out of the peculiar Liepāja art and music, but also out of a kind word to the person coming from the opposite direction or out of your own fulfilled path.

Liepāja – a city with creative people, constantly and cardinally changing weather conditions, a comfortable environment and a human intrusion-free nature that inspires, charges, prevents from missing a beat and falling into routine. We feel the creative unrest in music, art, theatre, sports and multiplicity of entertaining activities stretching from the lake to the sea, from the Promenade to Karosta, from the Square of Roses to the Pērkone Channel on the southern tip of the town – in serene and tranquility, or in the purple rain of emotions.

Any unrest is a quest for rest. There is no single recipe for all, so there are different search paths and creative manifestations, but the most successful with advice and creative potential are the sea, the wind, ever-changing shore, mixture of waves and sand. The sea has always a gift in its pocket, the wind is always ready for the show – there is only the human they need to start a play of their own. The sand castles can now begin to be grown.

There is a researcher gene in every local resident that makes restless and keeps on the trot until something unknown, exciting and truly local – "liepājnieki" style – has been discovered and examined.

Liepaja is a tailored dress made just for me, a comfortable and delicate hand job, not something ordered online, which sometimes appears to be too small or too large. You can have your feet wet in the see with this dress, or watch the birds in the lake. Flow into the city's arteries – ticktock, ticktock. The grandma softly touches the sleeve of the dress and the amber brooch shines on the chest. The stream of world trends is flowing from the sea in the port, whereas the winter ice is moving from the lake to the sea. The men on the shore are catching dreams. Creation is inside of me. The city's unrest and bubbles inspire me. I'm in the right place and time in Liepāja. People forged in the whirligig of time, baroque and Art Nouveau buildings, cobble stone streets and broken lines of waves against the breakwaters, the grave of the great master Bertschy and roses symbolizing our destiny. The city gives and takes, so as it happens in love. The time goes by and my daughter is coming of age. The dress is hers now. A piece of ancientry, a piece of modernity, a piece of our sky and a piece of our life.

When the Liepāja unrest has reached a boiling level in me, I know what I have to do. I have to create! Whether to re-invent a bicycle or design an art museum. It drives all us forward. The best thing is to catch this lightning in the bottle and to turn it into pure pleasure. Bustle, play, bake windy patties, run with a dog, explore ant paths or plant tomatoes in a box on the windowsill. And when the boiling heat cools down, you can just do nothing, let go, and wait for the next wave.

Liepāja is a city in which God's breath is as powerful, as the transformations of the sea – from the serenity to the mighty storms of huge storms – these shifts show His power and how much we trust in Him. The creative Liepāja unrest has been blessing and inspiring Rīga since 1983, where I can serve as a pastor and teacher since 1993. But in order to preserve this unrest in me, I always return to Liepāja, to the hometown of my parents and me, to my roots and the roots my faith.

I'd say Liepāja is the perfect spot to take the liberty of exploring the true meaning of the term "quality of life". Ten-to-fifteen minutes walking from anywhere in the town, and you are by the sea. Just a few clicks, and you're speaking to customers on the other side of the world, Should the beach strolls or bike rides be a standard practice to your daily routine, then you can take a moment and just in few minutes be at the Liepāja Lake, or even better – in the middle of it, observing the panorama from the bird watching tower. A benchmark and a charging station – this is Liepāja for my family and my business. This is a place we summon our energy and dreaming big dreams of the greater world out there, and this is the place we are drawing our inspiration to conquer it. As a perfect recipe with both the bunch of possibilities and the simplicity of lake lower banks, multinational currents and the tranquility and stability of the local streams – the creative Liepāja unrest is a key to spot, recognize and experience all this.

When you feel the inner desire to buzz with activities, the most likely thing happening to you is the creative unrest. But don't keep this unrest in you – spill it out, create! And when the creative unrest bursts out, it roars, it spreads quickly. Undeniably, the choice of place also matters! I'm sure that the best creative unrest comes right out of here, from Liepāja! Surrender to the unrest!

At first, I had to ask myself the question: "What is the creative unrest in Liepaja at all?" I think it's certainly "liepājnieks" – a local one, a person! Someone who doesn't succumb to routine, someone constantly searching for something, someone who isn't afraid to dare initiate and ignite without certainty of result! I embrace my creative unrest by filming variety of diverse videos on the streets of Liepāja. Sometimes I do that elsewhere in the world. I spend an unthinkable amount of hours in from of the computer screen practicing my video editing skills in the 100 m2 of the Sense Media open type office along with 10 other young and talented creative "unrest makers". We support and encourage each other to do more and better. In addition to videos, we also produce a variety of explanatory and entertainment animations, and other digital content that later is broadcast to different screens in the world. You might think: "You can do all of this elsewhere in the world too. Why Liepāja?" Yes, it is. I could have been in Los Angeles long ago, in the big movie industry. But I decided to stay in Liepāja. As a young man, I felt needed and appreciated here. Moreover, when I had to live and work elsewhere in Europe and the United States, I realized that is actually way more comfortable to live in a beautiful coastal town. Perhaps, it may sound already a bit as a stereotyped expression, but still - this is indeed a small town with the global city grasp. I think we have everything we need here for a beautiful and creative life. There are countless ways of expressing yourself. You just need to dig.

The creative unrest in Liepāja is as ubiquitous as radio waves. You just have to press a single button or tune in, and it appears to your ears from seemingly nowhere. The creative unrest is everywhere and anywhere, and it awaits calmly for a person to open up to its prolific and visionary tune. You only have to know your own frequency.

I believe that the creative unrest of our young people is in particular a great addition to the Liepāja charm, that inspires me and multiplies the magic of the city. The unrest and spirit of our gymnasium students, who are so active in creating videos, competing in the choral contests, building sand castles on the beach and winning awards in the competitions thus adding the Liepāja name to the top list. The unrest and creative craving of our raising jazz stars and shining contemporary artists from the Music, Art and Design Highschool. The willing hands of students from the University of Liepāja who set up shows on the streets of the city, who are illuminating the facades of houses and publishing their first books. The creative unrest of Liepāja has some sort of youthful quixotic endeavor, the audacity and the courage to do things like no one else.

The homecoming settling your life here after a decade of living somewhere else and visiting Liepāja only on holidays has given me a pleasant sense of peace and rest. Finally, I feel home. I see opportunities all around – there are so many things to do and there are plenty of opportunities for a great free time as well. There is something in Liepāja that wheels you forward, doesn't allow you to get rusty and gives you that euphoria feeling. It make you eager to create, initiate, run errands, should that be a refurbishment in your own house, or new ads for the concert hall, or a river fun with the SUP board in early spring, tennis game on the courts or rollerskating on the Horse Islands. This is what I call the Liepāja creative unrest.

... when unrest interfuses with rest, chilling cold with burning hot... when the mind boils from an abundance of ideas, like a thick and bright flake on a canvas with a finely painted wind pattern... each and everyone can feel this sensual touch here, in Liepāja.

It floats in the beach air every single day. If you are out of ideas, you will find them here. If you can't ride the whirlwind elsewhere, you can surely do it here. The life is much more relaxed here, on the beach, the people are more open and the creativeness emerges out of the wind.

The creative Liepāja unrest is present in everything and in everyone, it can be heard in silence and seen in doing – beautiful, sometimes a bit crazy. The expression of my creative unrest reflects in my affection for what I do. Creating festivals and events that radiate delight and satisfaction, enhance the positiveness. Sometimes this unrest keeps you restless from whining, and sometimes those are people around you and the city itself. Surely, there are also moments of emotional thunderstorm, but as soon as it passes, you find yourself amidst the rainbow shiny sky. At least for a moment... before the unrest provokes the next challenge. Just don't stop and find harmony between them. Without one, we wouldn't discover the other.

To truly understand the unrest, you have to experience the genuine peace, rest. It's virtually impossible to encounter the rest in Liepāja. Could you remember the last time there was a windless calm here? The most important question in Design is "What is best?" and the designer's job is to understand the way it is and create the better world. Liepājnieks is one who is constantly looking for an answer to this question, constantly trying to find the best way, for example, to shelter from the wind, to be alone for a moment. My unrest grows from within myself, whereas people around me bring that rest feeling. Local fellows with their proud attitude and stature are the ones. Their magnitude of brainstorm is immeasurable, and the local pride of these fellows liepājnieki is a real key to success. They know "What is best" and they do it - they make the world better.

Rest and unrest – seemingly opposites, they are certainly equal terms to me. It is necessary to create a rest within unrest and to express it best in new ideas by looking creatively at the commonplace to make the world around you more interesting and fulfilling. Creative unrest always finds a way to express itself and Liepāja is ready for it. Always. In any day-night hour and season, 365 days a year!

The best place in Liepāja to express the creative unrest is the untamed Karosta. By revealing secrets hiding in the underground bunkers, sensing the power of waves near the Northern Breakwater or contemplating life behind the bars of the Karosta Prison.