Here we are on day 11 of #Trust30. Some of the prompts I’ve loved and dived deeply into, others I’ve been grateful to skimp and write a sentence in response, and others like today’s I just want to blow off because they don’t resonate with me and I have other things calling my attention.
Imitation is suicide. That’s a pretty passionate statement. In a world filled with billions of people, I don’t really care all that much if what I do seems to imitate someone else, because the odds are against complete originality are so remote. So, you won’t catch me tying myself in knots or committing suicide over a lack of complete originality.
What would concern me more however is the idea of intentional imitation. There’s nothing quite so sad or disturbing to me as Elvis impersonators or those TV shows that remake people in the image of their favorite celebrity. Are their lives so pathetic that they have to steal someone else’s?
We all, each and every one of us are as unique and precious as snowflakes. We have entirely unique personalities, outlooks, and gifts that we bring to the world. The experiences we have had and the roads we have travelled ensure we can be no one but ourselves.
So while what we do, may sometimes have an uncanny resemblance to things other people have done, who we are, can never be replicated.
So the challenge for me is not to avoid imitating someone else, it’s about being the divine, best and truest me I can be.
Imitation is Suicide. Insist on yourself; never imitate. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Write down in which areas of your life you have to overcome these suicidal tendencies of imitation, and how you can transform them into a newborn you – one that doesn’t hide its uniqueness, but thrives on it. There is a “divine idea which each of us represents” – which is yours?
(Author: Fabian Kruse)
“(…)So the challenge for me is not to avoid imitating someone else, it’s about being the divine, best and truest me I can be.” That brought tears to my eye.
That is the challenge we have to face, acknowledge and work with during our course of our lives. Thank you, thank you for this. Great writing. xoxo
Hey Michi, glad to here that connected with you. It’s odd how sometimes the simplest things can touch us and move us deeply. I for example am moved to tears whenever I hear children’s choirs in the mall at Christmas!