Original Thought

Original Thought ©

By Michael Casey

Original, now that’s a big word in itself, original, unique, not done before. I suppose “In the Beginning there was the Word” now that would have been totally original, nobody had done anything before then. Light was a big deal, day and night an even bigger deal, sea and land was original and unique too. Man was formed of clay and his better half was formed from a rib of his, so everything was fresh and new, Original.

Sex was new and exciting, then they ate from the tree of knowledge so they discovered they were naked. So they were thrown out of the Garden of Eden. Original Sin, and the need for clothes arrived. That’s when original stopped being original, why because clothes were needed. And labels came into being, fashion arrived too, these leaves look better than those leaves to hide our nakedness and to keep us warm. Sewing machines weren’t invented for millennia, so to sew a stitch, when we didn’t have a stitch on became a great talent. “Never mind the quality feel the width” comes to mind, the very old tv show, was Milo O’Shea in that in the early 60s?

There is a history to fashion, and fashion like history does repeat itself. It’s a very interesting topic in itself, I’m not qualified enough to bore you on the matter, though I may try later, much later, when the fashions have changed again. So what of original? Can anything be called original? We all are original a one off, one of God’s creation, or we are here because our parents got down and dirty, to use a 60s phrase, but I’m not being original by using it.

An original thought or idea leads to change, because it challenges previous thought, so something new happens. Rugby was invented because a guy cheated by picking up the ball, he was original. American football is perhaps the bastard child of rugby, when I played rugby at grammar school we thought American football was for girls as they wore padding etc. Now that’s an original thought and I’m smiling because I can guess at  the reaction to that thought, but I’m smiling because I’m pulling their leg, which is a posher way of saying “you S&***ing me”

Now what is original? The light bulb was original and it has changed everybody’s life, we can work and play and study more because of the gift of life. Then you get a whole industry of lamp shade makers, followed by light designer, florescent, LED, LCD and whatever other combinations of letters to form light.

So everything starts off virgin and new, then it is corrupted and we prostitute it to our needs, even words are corrupted or should I say chosen to see if people are still listening or reading this. You get my point, things, people, words, even Nature itself starts in an original form and then is changed by us, by Man.

So what is an Original thought or an original anything else? Mozart, now we can all agree he was an original, his music was original, he had original thoughts which marked him out as a Genius. Einstein it is said was 50 years ahead of the game, other masters of their art are and were originals. Sports figures who can do wonders in their sport, poets, musicians and inventers all these people are original and unique. They had Original Thought.

What pleases me is the fact that Nature or God, take your pick, will throw up somebody who makes us marvel. How could this person be so gifted, how could this nobody, this nothing, this dirt be able to write this, to play this, to create this, it goes against all reality. The answer is simple, Originality is wired into us, it is in our DNA. Why do we copy, we copy because we are monkeys, we are apes who copy what we see because it is pretty, we see tricks and we copy them. We see originality so we copy it. The new jeans, slim fit, tight fit, baggy falling off our butt fit. The new car, such clean lines, 40 years ago, cars were rubbish, certainly here in UK, the designs were just bad, quality too. I remember when the latest new thing was unveiled, it look like a lump of cheese, a wedge of cheese. My sister’s first car a Mini Metro. Then everybody else copies what is new, then they copy the copy.

So does originality really exist? Yes and no, because what is new is soon copied and sold much cheaper, the wheel of change goes on and on. Imitation is the highest praise, imitation in design and in culture, pop music being the obvious example. Imitation in fast food, so we have burgers and chicken all over the world, so the world becomes the same and everywhere wants to be like everywhere else.

As for me I hope my words are original and that my style is easy to read, and that you want to read more. In the end when will we all be original? When we are one with the Word, and then perhaps be Original finally.