It can take a lifetime to find out who you really are. Most people never even find out. The creative process is a journey to understand ourselves and the world more deeply. It can take years of exploration before one even starts to move in the right direction.
As society prescribes, most of us begin by learning from others. We learn from our parents, friends, and teachers. Every interaction we have throughout our life is a learning experience. As time progresses, we develop idols. People we look up to and attempt to emulate.
If you’re interested in stocks, this might be Warren Buffett and imitating his value investing model. If you are a musician, you might try to play guitar like Jimi Hendrix and nail down his riffs.
Learning through imitation is a fantastic way to build the 10,000 hours of practice to master a craft. This begs the question though - when it comes time to create your own investment strategy or guitar riffs, where does one start?
Well of course you can take bits and pieces from your favorite practitioners and create an original concoction. The classic saying good artists copy, great artists steal. This is a step towards creating original work, but does not result in anything recognizably yours.
Therein lies the journey to originality and recognizability: tinkering.
As Miles Davis said, “Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself”
While spending time at my grandparents recently, I was perusing through a book filled with the masterworks of the Barnes Foundation. My eyes were drawn to the work of many artists, but one stood out in particular.
Amadeo Modigliani’s style contrasted every other artist in the gallery.
He has one of the most distinct styles of portraiture ever. His thin faces, long bodies, and distorted features are picked out by viewers around the globe because of their distinctly unique characteristics. He may have learned through the imitation and influence of others, but after years of experimentation, Amadeo found his own original style.
Keith Haring is another example of art that is immediately recognizable. Keith’s work did not become prominent because of his mastery of drawing or painting. Much of his works' fame can be attributed to how unique it is compared to everything before it. It stands alone amongst a crowd of artists imitating one another.
Why is originality important? It is how one finds them-self. The revelation of who you truly are.
Through our unique perspective and style, each one of us can get closer to our own truth.