Idolatry

I like to think of my self as creative and original. The problem I have is that when I see someone else' good idea I get really annoyed that I didn't think of it first. It's a great idea, I want to do it also, but I don't want to be unoriginal. It's too easy to copy cat someone else and claim credit for it. It's a real challenge to invent and create something new.

I read several people's blogs, and they're great and wonderful to keep in touch with my friends. Some of them have interesting posts, which I think are a great idea. I want to copy them. Perhaps imitation is the greatest form of flattery there is, or it could be that I'm low down and dirty and I can't think for myself.

What really started me on this path of not wanting to copy others was something my dad said years ago when I was still in middle school. He said that if you look up to someone else, hold them as a hero, then you lose something of yourself. Those aren't his exact words, but the idea is that idolizing someone removes confidence in yourself, which is what got those people stature in the first place.
At the time I didn't really understand what this meant, I read it as "don't look up to anyone." So I tried very heard not to have a hero. No one to copy. And what happened was... holy shit. I gained confidence, I made jokes, I made something new, others looked up to me....

So when I find something I'm envious of, like a friend doing something I think I should've thought of first,I have to remind myself to use it as a fuel to come up with something even better, something even more creative and funny. Also, that just because they thought of it first does not mean that what I will think of won't also be good.

I want to celebrate my friends' creativity. I'm very proud of all the things they do.