The need to be different vs. the need to be authentic

It’s funny – I’ve been speaking to a few artist friends lately, and everyone seems to be feeling the same thing. Not just fine artists either — designers, craft makers, musicians. There’s this pressure to always be original, to stay ahead of the game, to create something no one’s seen before. And if you’re not? It’s easy to start questioning what you’re even doing.

Of course, art should push boundaries. It should challenge things, imagine something better. But when we focus too much on chasing ‘newness’, it’s easy to lose sight of the lens we started making with. The one shaped by honesty, vulnerability, and the simple instinct to create something.

I read recently that many artists are addicted to the idea of innovation, convinced their work only matters if it’s completely new. It’s not surprising, especially when you’re constantly exposed to a stream of art and people's breakthroughs. But chasing difference for its own sake rarely leads anywhere with truth and conviction. Innovation doesn’t create connection, vulnerability does. And when everyone’s trying so hard to stand out, we often end up blending in — moving like a herd of sheep toward the same trend.

Originality matters. But the kind that lasts doesn’t come from forcing it. It comes naturally, from a place of honesty — often when you’re not even trying to be different at all.

Richard Ayoade in his book, Ayoade on Top, said that "Ambition is a drug that makes its addicts potential failures. It distances them from reality, and places their worth in the hands of others. If you can, find a bigger reason to do your work than mere ambition, because ambition will leave you hollow."

Maybe the real challenge is staying close to what was ours to begin with.