Didn’t matter if it was film making, photography, writing, or butter sculptures, I used to be hung up on trying to create something original. I’d get in a funk desperately searching for some way to create something totally new. It still catches me from time to time. Bad Zeke. Bad!

Over the years I’ve come to the realization that wanting to be original is the most unoriginal desire. Ever. And in the broad sense it’s impossible. Communicating an idea, an emotion in away that connects with others, that’s what matters to me now.

I still search for interesting, novel ways to communicate these ideas, but no longer let an idea go just because it’s been communicated before.

How many times has this story been told? Boy meets girl. They fall in love. Girl leaves boy. Boy cuts off his own head… blah, blah, blah. Done a billion times. But tell it from your heart, really mean it, and it will move people.

This video is a great example that it’s not what you do, but the way that you do it. 30+ songs that all use the same 4 cords, but each (well, most) say something personal from the musicians. And that makes it interesting.

So work hard to communicate with passion in an interesting, compelling way, but don’t let a desire for originality, or anything else for that matter, stand in the way.

Nice!

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