There’s nothing new under the sun, and that’s the point

I was looking for something else when I found it.

A book that had been on my shelf for years - Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon.

I cracked it open, not expecting much. But within the first few pages, something inside me started to

shift. Confidence began to rise. Not the loud, performative kind - just the quiet, steady feeling that

said:

You’re allowed. You’re allowed to make what you’re meant to make. And you don’t have to

apologize for any of it.

In the chapter on originality, Kleon writes:

“What a good artist understands is that nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on

what came before.”

Kleon even quotes the Bible. Ecclesiastes 1:9:

“There’s nothing new under the sun.”

And there it was - permission from both scripture and creativity.

I’m not supposed to reinvent the universe.

I’m supposed to add to it.

With my hands. With my history. With my eyes and instincts and every influence I’ve ever loved.

So much of my journey as an artist has been tangled up in trying to be original.

Trying to make something no one’s ever seen before.

But the truth is-what makes my work powerful isn’t how different it is.

It’s how true it is.

It carries echoes. Lineages. Teachers I’ve never met and colors I can’t forget.

And that’s not cheating.

That’s art.

Today, I’m showing up differently.

Not to prove something.

But to contribute to the beauty I’ve inherited.