When I was 7 years old, I was obsessed with a book series about a girl, her best friend, their horses and many a mystery. I can’t quite remember how many books there were but I think about 35 in the full series. My mum in her wisdom bought the full set and I would get a book after doing chores (ie blackmail 🙂).
Within a couple of months, my room was so tidy you wouldn’t believe anyone lived there, the cars were showroom shiny and the kitchen never looked messy – and I had finished reading the full set.
Argh! I missed those new stories so much I decided to keep writing the series. I mean why not? I’d read enough of them to be able to re-create the characters and all I had to do was come up with a different plot. I was able to write three “books” to satisfy me enough before the rest of life moved me on to something else.
For a moment I was very lucky to have had the series of books to inspire me to create. Sure, there was stealing of what went before but I can genuinely say I brought my own flair to those story lines.
I like the idea that we can try it on first, using the lens of someone else via our own imagination and then decide what we want to really experience.
We’ve all heard the saying “what would Oprah do?” Or “what would *insert any person I’d like to be more like* do?” – through this exercise we get to expand our view of the world and see what it’s like. Permission granted to explore, create and do, all through our own version of virtual reality – our creative mind.
Playing this way can open up our potential to possibilities we hadn’t yet thought of which we usually then adapt in our own unique ways as we fold it in to our lives, purpose served. I see this as the stealing.
There is even debate about whether Picasso is actually the author of this quote and that in itself demonstrates the point. Don’t settle for copying, take it and own it, make it yours so much so that it now is.
***PS this letter does not support copyright infringement 🙂
Love,
Jo x