Every time I see a Brown Bag dance performance, it makes me appreciate the discipline and passion that the dancers have. It’s almost as if, as a spectator, I am experiencing the world through the perspective of the dancer. I can practically feel the powerful and abstract emotions that flow from every move they make on stage.

I’ve never been much of a performer myself. I prefer to do exactly what I have described, which can be so enthralling: watch.

I don’t know how to dance, draw, sing or play an instrument. But I enjoy simply observing and interpreting art. Interpretation is, after all, its own art form.

While the artist attempts to translate a message through art, the viewer is the one who will ultimately decode the message. In doing so, they will place it in a personal context and perhaps see something differently than the artist intended.

One could argue that the moment that the viewer begins to understand a work of art and relate to it in his or her own way is when art truly takes on a meaning of its own.

For example, my grandmother was an amazing artist. Not only did she have the ability to create art that translated a message, but she was able to see everyday objects as nature’s masterpieces. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, she was both a creator and a beholder.

I have never been more immersed in the arts than when I visited New York City last summer. The reason I went was my sister, who was attending ballet school. This left my parents and I free to explore the city during the day. At night, we would all go out together to see plays and ballets.

One highlight was getting to see my favorite painting, “The Starry Night,” in person at the Museum of Modern Art. Seeing works by famous artists up close widened my perspective on creativity and artistry in everyday life.

For a long time I believed that I wasn’t creative at all. However, it didn’t take me long to find my niche as a writer. One good thing about writing, I quickly discovered, is that it provides the perfect opportunity to play the role of the observer and the interpreter.

I think that everyone creates art simply in the way we view the world. Like my grandmother, who could look at an object as simple as a piece of fruit and transform it into something beautiful, anyone who can connect to their surroundings and be inspired has artistic capacity.

Ashcraft is a junior majoring in journalism.