Warning: creative sacred cow #423 is wearing a bullseye. If it’s your excuse for being unoriginal, beware.
3,2,1… kicking
“History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new.” Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 NLT
Convenient. Compelling.
It’s really convenient to take a scripture (especially out of context) and use it as a banner for your belief system. “Nothing new under the sun” is a compelling argument for being uninspired and unmotivated, but I don’t buy it. Not today. Not tomorrow or the next day either.
Yes, it IS in the bible, which I hold to be the truth. However, in context it’s a statement on history repeating itself because we fail to take note of the past and learn from it. Behold the very next verse (1:11):
“We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.”
Even if you decide to take “nothing new under the sun” at face value, it is not an excuse to intentionally copy. Stealing is the lazy man’s creativity. It lacks imagination. It smacks of mediocrity.
I will concede this one point: we are the sum total of our influences, experiences and sources of inspiration. In that sense, there is probably nothing completely new. However, there’s one more thing you need to consider in this equation… the “you factor”. This “you factor” is something new. There’s never been a you on earth.
No excuses. Use your imagination. Leverage the “you factor” in everything you do, and don’t underestimate it.
The world is hungry to see something original. Are you up for the challenge?
The "you factor". I like that!!!