The Pressure to be Original

Seasons of Creativity, Pt 2: Summer

I grapple with this concept of originality. Standing out—especially as an artist.

I have the ability to craft something tangible, experienceable, from invisible thoughts and ideas. It’s magic! But with it often comes an intrinsic desire to make an impact and avoid redundancy in a world overflowing with ideas.

The gnawing question… hasn’t this been done before?

It can feel like an impossible standard, a mirage on the horizon. The closer I try to get, the further it slips away. Overthinking what hasn’t been done before could prevent me from starting at all.

“True originality”, this treasure chest of groundbreaking, unprecedented ideas that I seem to be searching for, may be a paradox. Maybe everyone is actually sharing inspiration and, in a sense, working together—each a part of this grand collaborative project of making the whole world more creative. New ideas are built on a foundation of existing ones, being reshaped by the hands of each unique creator.

And where does authenticity come in? I wonder if it’s something that I can’t even help: my unique perspective.

I wouldn’t even be able to have an experience of life if not for my individual perspective—this sense of self, and separation from everything else, which gives me identity. It is simply impossible to be exactly the same as someone else. So I suppose authenticity, living in accordance with who I am in each moment in time, is somewhat inevitable.

I want to reframe the idea of “doing something no one has done” as “creating something in a way no one else can”. Leaning into the parts of myself that stimulates a sense of curiosity and play. 

Originality can’t really be a goal. It’s something that emerges naturally from trying, failing, iterating, evolving, exploring—from the process and journey of creation.

And anyway, it seems to be a cycle. Something “original” today could become part of the collective pool of ideas tomorrow.

I find that what often tends to linger longer than the novelty of originality, is the feeling the art evokes. The connection.

And so guided by feeling, I can move through this season, one step at a time.