Thoughts on Originality and Creativity.
I have a couple bones to pick today. Lately, it’s starting to feel like some of us have lost our backbones while others are taking more than their share. In an instagram world, where people are creating and sharing daily, it can be hard to feel original. But I am here to tell you something: everyone is making the same shit but we are all doing it in our own ways. There is much commonality with creative work and very little originality. That’s OK. Just because some of us choose to share more and act like we know more does not make it true. Just because someone wants to appear like they are paving the way, does not mean that they are. Sometimes the person who wants you to think they are leading is actually following.
I’d be keen to say that we are all on similar creative pages. Side by side. Ideas and images are all just floating around in all of our heads— some of us just choose to grab them more often and claim them as our own. But hear me when I say: some people just want you to believe that they are above you so they take credit for images or lighting or techniques and call them theirs. Heres what I know is true: people who act like they have all the answers are typically the ones with the most questions. If someone acts like they are the first one who ever created an image, don’t always believe them. They must have something to prove. Know more. See more. Educate yourself. Create. Don’t hesitate or compare. Do not for one second cut yourself short because someone else did something similar. Elizabeth Gilbert said, “stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone ought to be” and I could not agree more.
You are a creative. Your vision may be similar but it’s YOURS. Take it and own it, damnit. If someone claims to original, ask yourself, “but are they authentic?” I will leave you with one more quote by my girl Elizabeth Gilbert, “anyhow, the older I get, the less impressed I become with originality. These days, I'm far more moved by authenticity. Attempts at originality can often feel forced and precious, but authenticity has quiet resonance that never fails to stir me.”