My college roommate made a left turn across six lanes of traffic, causing a multi-car crash when she witnessed the illumination of the “hot, now” sign in the window of Krispy Kreme.

“It’s like the car just turned itself,” she said in her statement to police. (If you’ve ever had a hot, glazed, Krispy Kreme, perhaps you are nodding with compassion and understanding.)

In many ways, Open Mic Night, hosted on Leap Day with The Green Room in Beaufort offered creatives of all genres and ages a space to play, sing, read, recite, and rap their original work, held that same kind of delicious donut like attraction.

Art hangs on the wall and in the atmosphere of The Green Room with a vibe of speak easy meets edgy bar. The owners are artists and entrepreneurs, and they support their community through encouragement of events for the creative minded. The environment is a natural backdrop for an open mic. Just like my former roomie, written worders made hard turns across obstacles and nerves and took to the front of the room with enthusiasm and gusto.

Poems and stories were read, a middle schooler rapped, musicians played guitar and harmonica and sang. It was a variety of wholesome entertainment, and the artists were (mostly) received with appreciation and attention. That caveat of mostly in the fences of the parenthesis is there because at an open mic, as in any situation, some of the audience isn’t listening, the cellular device is an at-the-ready distraction, as is the human resistance to stay focused on someone other than self. Yet, writers of prose, poem, and song rose to the occasion to cast their work out into the universe, not just on the page, but live and in person, and that takes courage and conviction. It also toughens the skin, strengthening the internal resolve to be the best version of ourselves, and to rise in our respective craft.

Open Mics are the hot light for creatives. The shining beacon – welcoming the work – be it tiring, weary, and sometimes lonely to create – it’s electrifying to muster up the guts to share it and magical when it’s well received with a nod and some applause.

What bonds us to one another and anchors us to the moment that we pass through in our time here on earth might be the art we create and the people who experience it alongside us, binding us together with the bonding agent of language in the form of words, glorious words.

The Green Room at the Black Sheep on Beaufort’s beautiful Front Street is open Wednesday through Sunday after 4pm. Come for the craft cocktails, vibrant art scene, and stunning views of Taylor’s Creek. Look for the physical flag or follow on FB and Instagram @thegreenroom.blacksheep.