(This is a re-hash of an old post I put up on Deviant Art forever ago that I felt needed to be dug up and edited.)
Originality is dead. We all know this. Everything has been done before at this point. It is just the place where we are at in humanity. One person creates a piece of art, or writing, or music, or poetry (any creative arena, really) and while most people think "wow that's so original!" invariably somebody, somewhere is going "hey, that was MY idea!" or "Hey, I've heard that riff before in this song over here." or "Hey!That artist already did something like that over there!" when this person (to their knowledge) copied nothing, drew from nothing of than their own minds. I know you all know what I mean.
For instance, my certain "style" of artwork coincided almost at the same time with other similar artists in my genre, such as Kyoht and Dark Natasha, and I am sure hordes of others. Does it mean we were "copying" one another? How in the world could we have been doing that before we even knew of one another? We were simply doing what we were creatively drawn to do.
You see this a LOT, in all areas. Creators simultaneously creating just about the same thing at the same time. As if they were all connected to one another's minds (and well before the invention of the internet.) Why is this?
It is my belief (and understanding) that we are all interconnected to one another and to the rest of creation. We are all very subtly psychically linked to everything and everyone, and because of this we tend to see very similar ideas pop up across the board at certain points in time. For instance, movements in music, art, literature, theater, innovation...every area of creativity. Look at the history books, you will always see this sort of thing. I believe that because of this innate connection certain ideas or ways of creating are "downloaded" from a higher source across certain areas of creativity at certain times. I think this is just how it works, and it is why human beings are natural creators. We have this connection with the source of creativity itself (call it Nature, God, Spirit, The Universe, The Source, The Creator, Great Mystery, whatever suits you). And that means that –nothing- can be completely "original" in this world, especially not now with how massively interconnected humanity is becoming.
So that brings me back to uniqueness. In all of the history of the world, in all the masses of human beings that have lived on this planet, there has –never- been anyone exactly like you (even if you are a twin). There may be others that have looked very similar to you, acted like you do, speak like you do, feel like you do, have the same sort of personality, but none of them have ever had all of these qualities together in one place at one time that creates –you-. You are a very specific recipe that will never again be on this Earth (even if you were cloned).
It is the same with your creativity. While this or that person may have done something close or similar to how you create, NO ONE has ever or could ever create in the same way that you do. Only you can combine the elements of your craft (painting, digital art, photography, writing, cooking, etc) in your own unique way, and this is your "style". Your style can be copied, it can be similar to someone else's style, but no one will –ever- be able to 100% copy the uniqueness of your creations.
So please, don't stop creating because you fear that you are being unoriginal. Don't strive for originality; strive for your own –uniqueness-. No one else possesses it; no one else ever can. No one else in all of the history of humanity, in all of the humans who currently live, is uniquely –you-. Originality is dead, but uniqueness will go on forever.
And taking that to heart I will continue writing, I will continue doing art, I will continue creating, because I know that I only have this short time of my brief life to create something that is 100%