Has It All Been Done?

The lyrics of the Barenaked Ladies song from the 90’s echoed through the cavity of my skull… “It’s all been done, whoo hoo hoo….!” I recall the simple refrain whenever I discover that the notion I had originally supposed a brilliant idea has already been thought out and implemented into the fibers of society.

I often comment that if I lived in yesteryear, I would be exceptional- revolutionary, in fact. I would throw myself into the jail cell of Susan B. Anthony. I would defy the role of my gender and adorn a coat of union blue. I would be like a Alice Roosevelt and smoke, drink and swear just because it wasn’t proper; I’d do it for spite. Nowadays, I can smoke, drink and swear without anyone batting an eyelid (well…some might twitch an eyelid...). The point is, socially, whereas we still have a lot of work to do in many spheres, “it’s all been done.” The wars have been fought. Have they been won?

“The songs have been sung, the books have been written, the paintings are hung,” I often console myself when the well of inspiration becomes a desert of artistic diminution. “It’s all been done!” The stigma of being a distraught, washed up and hung out to dry, suffering poet appeals to me. In one of my “philosophical upheavals,” as I call them, I grumbled my opinion about modernity’s threat to the integrity of art and creativity to my boss. “No,” she disagreed. “Everything is a continuation.”

Ah-hah! Could that be the answer? In my own ignorance, was I indulging in the bitter and unripened fruit hanging from low branches? I began to delve further into my own mind....After all, how many songs are written in response to others? How many songwriters and poets are influenced by their predecessors? How many writers allude to the “great works” in their own scribbling? Look at all the paintings that have spurred admirers to react with their own palette and brush. Think of all the inventions that have been improved. Without the impact of those who came before, art could not be created over and over by posterity. The wars may have been fought, but that doesn’t mean that they have been won just yet.

I still become irked when I have a great idea and “google” it, only to find that such an idea already exists. However, my mind can only become stronger and my vision sharper, as I continue to strive for the originality that is becoming lost in this big, wide world. In that trying, I continue to learn, contemplate, and realize that the 21st century mind does not have to resign itself to being an empty vessel which has given up the pursuit of enriching endeavors. Instead, it can be a powerhouse of knowledge, wisdom and flourishing.