Quantity of republishing

content/post/2018/01/angels-got-their-halos/index.markdown

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+title = "“The best way out is always through. Angels got their halos walking through the fires of hell”"
+date = "2018-01-21"
+categories = ["life"]
+tags = ["AL"]
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+
+Those are the words of someone who shattered my trust. And yet I still repeat those words like a mantra.
+
+Despite all she took from me, she gave me those words. Those words of power. Perhaps they were even worth all the pain. Perhaps. Because they are so fundamentally true. The only answer, when life sucks, is *keep going*.
+
+> “If you’re *going through hell*, keep going.” — *Winston Churchill*
+
+Churchill said it first, of course. But I prefer the Angels version. Not just because of the special meaning it holds to me, but for the extra emotional punch.
+
+Imagine an angel.
+
+A flawless angel beaten down by the fires of hell. Pristine white robe torn and charred, ragged edge trailing in the ashes. The faintest flicker of a halo of flame glimmering in the hazy air above her waterfall of spun-gold hair.
+
+White dove feathers of her wings burning merrily. Burning, yet remaining intact. Soft down transformed into blazing flame. Wings of fire. Wings of a phoenix.
+
+Imagine an angel walking through hell, reborn in the fire.
+
+Perhaps she chose her path. Likely, Life chose it for her in an absent minded toss of the dice.
+
+What she always has the choice in, however, is to keep going. Step after step, despite the fire.
+
+Take the path. Walk through the fire. Emerge as a phoenix.
+
+If fire still licks around you, remember — just *keep going.* You cannot go back — and to stop would invite the flame to consume you.
+
+<sup>*If only I were better at listening to what I preach…*</sup>
+
+  

content/post/2018/01/creativity-does-not-necessitate-originality/index.markdown

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+date = "2018-01-17"
+layout = "post"
+categories = ["life", "writing"]
+title = "Creativity does not necessitate originality"
+description = "Or: No good comes from a vacuum"
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+Even the above statement is not original. (No, really…you’ll see…)
+
+All writers are influenced by what we read, whether conscious or unconscious. For example, my writing style takes several cues from Terry Pratchett, sometimes very deliberately.[^1] And there are no doubt countless unconscious influences feeding into my life in ways I don’t even realise.
+
+So in that sense I am in no way original. But in that same sense, it doesn’t **matter**.
+
+Stealing’s no good.[^2] But remixing is — has always been, will always *be* — the foundation of creativity.
+
+Creativity is naturally cyclical. Readers write, and writers read. After all, there are only three[^5] plots.
+
+It’s not just writing. Everyone is influenced by everything. Our imagination isn’t entirely our own — all media that we consume, all experiences that we have, every last thing that we see — gets thrown into one pot. Much like a baking recipe, the blend is original although the ingredients are not.
+
+Accepting the art of the remix is the first step on the journey to finding a voice **— YOUR** **voice**. Your personal experience (original by nature) will blend into everything else that shapes us as people, all those influences known and unknown.
+
+And that’s as original as it gets.
+
+So it’s a poorly kept secret my drafts section is overflowing. This is one more of those drafts finally being shoved out into the world. My original title was thus:
+
+![](1*Y6Sd0_RYfJ1GYeszDo8ZbQ.png)
+
+Then Medium dropped this on me:
+
+[**Don’t Worry About Being Original — Everything’s a Remix**  
+*One of the biggest limiting beliefs I run into when talking to aspiring writers or creators is that they don’t have…* medium.com](https://medium.com/personal-growth/dont-worry-about-being-original-everything-s-a-remix-6fbb06ab1683 "https://medium.com/personal-growth/dont-worry-about-being-original-everything-s-a-remix-6fbb06ab1683")[](https://medium.com/personal-growth/dont-worry-about-being-original-everything-s-a-remix-6fbb06ab1683)
+And here we stand. The same sentiment, much of the same words. Classic example of case-in-point, in a meta sense. Pleasingly neat, actually.
+
+[^1]: Footnotes being just one recently rediscovered example
+
+[^2]: Unless you’re Robin Hood[^3]
+
+[^3]: Sidenote[^4]: is a rhyme split across a sentence and its footnote still a rhyme?
+
+[^4]: Footnote, sidenote…notes aplenty…Dear oh dear.
+
+[^5]: Replace ‘three’ with *x* sub infinite number as appropriate. Doesn’t change the sentiment.
+
+