It’s All Been Done
All the songs have been sang.
All the dances have been danced.
All the stories have been told.
All the pictures have been painted.
Do those thoughts run across your mind when you create?
They’ve crossed mine.
When I sit down to write, I think for a second…
“What hasn’t been said?”
Oh, that’s right — we live in the days of the internet.
It’s all been fucking said.
A quick Google search will drown me with websites and forums on the topic I thought was brilliant.
Then, as I dive further into the depths of the internet, I find better insights than whatever I was thinking… shit.
I follow that up by asking A.I. about my topic, and it proceeds to caress my brilliance…
or makes me feel like a smart idiot for even having the question.
This is just a nightmare scenario in my head — but collectively?
I’ve been there.
Done that.
I imagine an artist looks at an art museum the same way I look at a library:
amazed and intimidated.
Then you head inside and read an excerpt from a goofy-ass book
or see a shitty painting,
which in turn makes you feel shittier — or courageous.
Depends on the day.
When we look at the greats of history, those bastards had a nice mental advantage:
they didn’t have everyone in the world, and everyone who came prior, to compare themselves to.
Imagine Michelangelo doom-scrolling Bob from Virginia’s Instagram, thinking:
“I can’t do this shit,”
as he looks at some rando’s work.
Or Michelangelo completing the Sistine Chapel, showing it to his brother Leonardo,
and his brother goes:
“That’s cool. Have you seen this guy Bob’s from Virginia’s work?!?”
Fuck.
I suppose we have better shit and a fuck-it attitude.
Actually — these days, you have to have a fuck-it attitude.
So:
Sing your song.
Dance your dance.
Paint your picture.
Write your thoughts.
Set your heart free?
Your best is now.