On Being Authentic and Original

Steve Jobs says:
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

This idea resonates in an artists' head, also. It's a challenge to be "original". It's very easy to get caught up in the "fashion" or "trend" of the day, especially when you are attempting to market your work. You look upon others' success and think, "I can do that, and one better." Only most of the time, it can be read as the same vision. The 'tweak' needs to be extreme, almost as if the idea you are emulating needs to transform into 'future abstraction' - to the avant garde. Creativity, ah yes, creativity! It's a friend and an enemy, all at the same time!

There's an old and very dear friend in Colorado, that I consider to be so very creative, almost all of the time. She is a mover and a shaker and then some! We aren't in contact very much, she is so busy teaching and has set up her own "power library" model in her school. But when I get really stuck??? I am forever forced to ask myself, (although I used to tap into her mind and thoughts often), "What would Wendy do??!!" Kinda like the WWJD reminders, only mine is WWWD! Everyone needs the power of a "Wendy", there are a lot of them out there. So, no, that wouldn't necessarily be 'original', but 'trying on' her style of creative thought helps to lessen the floundering!