Earlier today, a friend of mine posted something on Facebook posing the question if anyone generates their own original status updates anymore rather then just sharing another cat or cooking video. It got me thinking about a chapter from one of my favorite books. The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson talks about the imagination and creativity. The whole book is about finding what you love and making that your "element". So why does it seem like originality has taken a step to the side these days. It seems that everyone wants to be their own unique person, but they have a hard time actually being unique. Robinson stated, "Imagination underpins every uniquely human achievement. Imagination led us from caves to cities, from bone clubs to golf clubs, from carrion to cuisine, and from superstition to science." 

Thinking outside the box is what makes the next story you write, or the next photograph taken just a little bit more interesting then the next. Why would you want to be like every other person anyways? That's kind of boring, wouldn't you say? Don't get me wrong. Every artist pulls inspiration from somewhere or from something that somebody else has created first, but imagination is not the same as creativity. Everyone has those "head in the sky" moments that can be identified as imagination, but the process of creating those situations is another story. Robinson defines creativity as “the process of having original ideas that have value.” Imagination can take place in your head, but taking what you're inspired by and creating something original from it, that is what being creative is all about. "Creativity is a step beyond imagination because it requires that you actually do something rather than lie around thinking about it."

But let's get back to this "being original" idea. I once heard from someone, I can't remember who right now, say that everyone is inspired by something. Whether it be a movie scene, a piece of material, a chorus in a song, etc.. All art is inspired from another created piece. When I'm stuck in a rut of not knowing what to create, I pick up a magazine and skim the photos. I look at the lighting, the position of the models body, the clothes, and I know that I will take something away from those elements that I will use in my next photoshoot. That idea I have pulled from the magazine was already created by someone else, but what I do with it, will be my choice and my artistic decision. I don't want to copy what they have already done, but I will take the elements of the photos and make them my own. Same for a costume designer, or a musician. The costume designer might use the same pattern that another person has created, but what they do with the material is at their own creative preference. The musician might have heard a riff they like and use it for their base composition, but will change it to match their creative taste. "Creativity involves several different processes that wind through each other. The first is generating new ideas, imagining different possibilities, considering alternative options."

So my final thoughts on this topic are, rather then claiming an idea as "mine", think about where that inspiration and final piece of art came from. Originality must come from your own form of imagination, but what you do with it, that is what it means to create.