Originality is Appreciated

Mulling over the future after rummaging through the past
March 13, 2012
11:32am


My brother chuck is a photographer. A pretty damn good one, if I may say so myself. A real keen eye; a strong, confident voice; a knack for poetic musing visually expressed with utmost candor and character - a true artist. The other day, as we critiqued the works of others, he said to me, "Nothing is original anymore. Everything you see now is copied from somewhere else, reflective of something else, inspired by someone else... A new take on Hockney, antithesis to Richardson, inspired Van Assche - it seems like true originality is rarely ever achieved anymore.""Such a sad way to look at the world," I thought to myself. While the may be true with the arts, let's hope it is not the case for life.

I've gone through all of it - I've read all the expressions of joy and longing; painfully scrutinized each photo; flipped through each day, month, year... And it truly pains me to realize that chuck seems to be right. As I look around and compare then from now, I see messages that are almost identical, exact words conveniently regurgitated, promises broken and promised again. Over and over again. Repeated without license, most blatantly plagiarized. Over and over again.

How telling...

So here I am urging and asking: Show some class; give it a little originality. Throw in a few choice words of your own. Please stop passing off current ideas as novel, when a simple search online easily reveals the derivative truth. Don't just thoughtlessly recycle old smooth moves and notions.

Instead, do things for the first time without the shadow of the past looming over like Ebenezer's own ghosts. Experience new places, do new things, express new ideas. Don't just repeat the past. Live reborn. Live anew - without the slick calculated moves that are already mastered and seemingly contrived.

Most importantly, make brand new promises; this time, make sure to keep them.