The myth of originality
It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation they say. You were born original, don't die a copy. How original can original be? Originality is often misunderstood, I was struck by this epiphany a few days back. When a child is creatively sprouting we inhibit his growth. To colour outside the lines is forbidden. I actually think the child is capable of creating masterpieces if he is just left by himself. Of course I do not think all his pages should have crayons scribbled over them and you should pretentiously call all of them work of art. But maybe once in a while the rules should be laid down. This brings the child’s original perspectives into view. My ‘liberal’ family has asked our children to be original in their career choices. So when my cousin took the liberty of saying he wanted to become a graphic designer, he was told he misunderstood what originality meant. His choice of taking up an original Or maybe they had very different stance on the ...