🦩 TREE 521: Originality is easy after you do some very hard things

If you want to be original, prepare to work very hard.

What about little kids? the imaginary antagonist says, They do startlingly original things all the time while doing no hard work.

First, anyone who has seen a little kid making something knows they work so hard. Second, you’re not a little kid. You are a grown-up who has seen shit go down. You know how things work. You have the capacity for cynicism. You think in clichés. And you live most of your life on autopilot.

I’m not insulting you. This how it is for adults. For us, becoming original is a different task than it is for a child. Right now, I can think of three things that are essential for being original.

One: Like more things. Originality is combining existing things in new ways. The more stuff you like, the more stuff you experience, the more stuff you study, the more material you have to combine in new ways. Consciously work to expand the amount of everything you like.

Two: Copy copy copy. To actually make something original, your skill levels need to keep up with your imagination. You get skills by doing what has already been done. Learn the notes. Learn the brush strokes. Learn how good writing works. Learn how to film the action. Learn how to command the AI. Whatever is is you want to be original at, learn the craft.

Three: Relax. Anything you create will have some aspect of originality because you are the one and only you doing it. Originality already exists in you. The more things you like and the more competent you become, the more your originality will naturally come out into the world.

Although this illustration raises many questions to which I do not know the answer, I can tell you that the ant is absolutely right about Winnie the Pooh. Look it up.

A few years ago, Matt Berninger from The National made some cool music with Brent Knopf. (Spotify).

Grow slowly
Jeff