Yes, it's been done. Do it anyway

There are a lot of surfing photos out there, but I’ll never get tired of looking at new ones. (Image by Kiril Dobrev)

When I was a kid first setting out to write songs, I was terrified of copying someone else. I wanted my stuff to be totally original.

I eventually realized that no one would ever care if a teenage girl in Maine happened to steal a chord progression or a bit of melody from an established artist. Everything was fair game.

This playful attitude freed me up to create without worry. I was able to forge my own path without thinking at all about what other artists were doing.

Was I totally original, though? Not at all. And that’s a good thing. Following established structures, patterns, and themes in my songs gave them an element of familiarity to the average listener. This made my music more attractive to the ear, not less.

I’ve been thinking about starting a YouTube channel and once again experiencing that discomfort: What do I have to contribute? Hasn’t everyone already said everything there is to say? How can I possibly create something unique enough to justify my presence?

But as I’ve been diving into YouTube to learn how videos are made, I’ve realized that wanting to add something new is completely beside the point. In observing my own behavior, I see that I’m not just watching one tutorial on lighting setup and moving on. I’m watching several different videos from several different creators in order to get different perspectives and go deeper. I need them all! I did the same thing when I was learning to knit. YouTube creators aren’t competitors — they are colleagues.

What’s more, all of these videos have a similar pacing, look, and feel — on purpose. These creators aren’t trying to be original. They’re trying to fit in. In order to earn your click, they make the length, title, and thumbnail of each video just like something else you’ve clicked on.

What a relief — I don’t have to innovate. I don’t even have to be the best. I can just make a thing and share it, for fun, following the footsteps of others in order to figure out how it’s done. It doesn’t have to be a race, a winner-take-all contest, or a zero-sum game.

Whatever you want to make is the same. A play, a non-profit, a painting…there is room for yours, and we probably still want it even if it looks and sounds like something we’ve seen before. In fact, that will make us want it even more. Even if you feel like it’s all been done, you should do it anyway.

What’s next for you?