Nothing new.

Have you ever thought that you were the only one to think something, or do something a certain way, only to find that there's someone else who does exactly the same? Ever thought that the same old things seem to be cropping up everywhere you look - politics, news, music, fashion, sport, etc etc. Ever wondered if everything that you can say has already been said? That everything's just a cliche? Hopefully, by now, I have at least one or two people who are in some sort of agreement.

It's actually quite an old idea - that everything that can be said, done or thought already has been. The first appearance of it - that I know of - is in the Bible, in the book of Ecclesiastes. (For those of you not familiar with the Bible, Ecclesiastes is one of the earlier books. Many think it may have been written by King Solomon, son of King David.) Many times in the book, one phrase is repeated - "There is nothing new under the sun."

It seems a bit depressing, really, doesn't it? To think that we can never create anything that is completely original. It seems like a bit of a sad idea, and one that we might not really want to contemplate too much. However, I don't think that just because there is nothing new, means that the act of creation is any less significant. Just because something has been done before, doesn't mean that someone has knowledge of it. There are times when I've come up with ideas on my own, only to find them expressed - almost exactly as I would've put it - in books that I have read. I don't think that it devalues the idea; two people can come to the same conclusion independently, and it doesn't discredit either of them that they weren't the only one who came up with it. Similarly, just because everything has been done before, doesn't mean that things that are made here and now have any less significance; it simply means we need to rethink what we mean by words like 'new' and 'create'.

An interesting thing to think about, I hope. Feel free to leave your thoughts, on this or any other post I make. I will do my best to get back to you.