Katy Hahn

Right now, I’m sort of convinced that there are no original thoughts left – or at least there are very few being spoken. For me, one of the deterrents from speaking my mind on this blog is sometimes the idea that whatever I’m thinking of writing about isn’t really an original thought. I worry that the thing I have to say is something that other people have discussed elsewhere on the internet, and my saying it again in my words won’t really build or add value on to that already existent conversation.

Silencing My Unoriginal Thoughts

Often, when I’m excited about a new idea to write about, I’ll go straight to the internet to look it up and see whether anyone else has written about it or what might already be out on that topic. If there’s already content on it, I have a tendency to silence myself right then and there, deciding not to move forward with writing about it because I don’t want to just regurgitate the same thing. I tell myself there is no point with flooding the internet with more content just for the benefit of hearing my own voice.

I ran into the same issue when I was trying to come up with a unique name for the blog in the first place. I wanted something that was meaningful to me – something that had depth and was in alignment with my intentions and purpose for starting it. For weeks I brainstormed prospective names, but I found myself following the same pattern over and over again. I’d have a clever idea, get really excited about it, and google it to see whether anyone out there was already using it. The vast majority of the time, there were already several different variations of the name in use in different industries. Again, I’d feel a little defeated, nix those ideas, and go back to the drawing board.

Am I “Basic”?

After going through this cycle with content for several months now, I’ve come to the conclusion that, at least right now, I’m really not having many new thoughts and ideas. Who knows, maybe I never will. As someone who likes to think of themselves as a deep thinking and non-conforming individual, that realization for me felt like a blow to my identity. (That and the use of the word “basic” (ew, sorry) is a whole other conversation for another day.) It also felt like a big discouragement from my drive towards changing the world, towards creating deeper connection in life, and towards simply being my authentic self. I thought – if I don’t have any original thoughts, should I even be blogging?

Our Human Experience Itself is Unoriginal

After sitting with the issue and contemplating, thankfully I believe the answer to that question would still be yes. Realistically, we are all walking around echoing the same thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and words to each other all day, every day, all over the world. Sure, we have unique life experiences, personalities, dreams, passions, even languages, but beneath the surface we’re all having the same human experience together. We’re all on a roller coaster ride full of moments of love, pain, joy, fear, excitement, sorrow. The deepest aspects of our experience as human beings are entirely unoriginal. Yet still, they are beautiful, important, and worthwhile.

Not to mention, they are contagious. A person in pain often spreads that pain to others, whether intentionally or unintentionally. A person who is excited holds the power to excite and motivate others. A person who treats others with love inspires those other people to reflect that love back to them and often to spread it even further to everyone else. Though unoriginal, these states of being are powerful. Despite the lack of originality of these experiences, they matter.

Unoriginal is Still Valuable

The same thing applies to those unoriginal thoughts I’m worrying about. There are all sorts of thoughts out there we’re echoing out to each other in today’s world, some toxic and negative, and others loving and positive. All contagious. The more expressions that exist out there of love, unity, and progress, the more of that sort of echo there will be out there in return – the more amplified those aspects will be throughout the collective as a whole as people reflect those same things out to each other more and more.

So, I’m going to stop silencing myself out of fear of unoriginality. I’m going to post what’s on my mind whether it’s something that exists already in some form or not. I invite you to do the same. Perhaps my expression of a thought will just be a therapeutic practice for me… Perhaps your expression will come out in the exact style that someone out there needs to hear it in to be able to receive it. Perhaps neither of those things will happen. What matters is that we are authentic to ourselves, come what may.

If we’re lucky, each of our expressions will reach even just one new person and echo out into more and more expressions of love and unity for us all.

Check out this post for some more encouragement towards being your authentic self – regardless of how it is received.

“There is no such thing as an original thought.” – Mark Twain

P.S. When I was looking for a quote to cap off this post with, I came across this famous quote by Mark Twain that I’d completely forgotten about. It’s almost identical to my first line. How fitting! 😉