Reality as it relates to creativity

As I was searching my way through different blogs today, I couldn't help but be amazed at the level of creativity of some of my fellow bloggers.  I thought, wow, I wish I could have a tricked out blog, with a different background every week; I wish I could have such inspired home made gift ideas.  After a few minutes of pondering my own inadequacies, I realized, that I am my own worst enemy.  What I mean is that I often stifle my own creativity because for the longest time, I believed that creativity = 100% originality.  As I was searching through the blogs, I began to see a lot of the same basic concepts, but with personal tweeks.

That was my aha! moment.

All creativity comes from something that has already been created.  A painter doesn't look at a landscape and say I can't paint it, because trees have already been painted.  It's the fresh new perspective that allows for creativity.  I don't know why I allowed this ridiculous idea to stay fermenting in my brain, but hopefully with this realization, I can put those old, idle thoughts to bed.

"Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from - it’s where you take them to."
— Jim Jarmusch