I have more than a few friends who are experts and dynamos in various fields. If you read their work, you know it is their work. You can feel them through a page. They are forward-thinking and 100% authentic. They credit their sources and they fuel new research and synthesize new ideas. They are the walking representation of their work- whether as teachers, healers, artists and entrepreneurs.
Then… the clones roll in. Clones: people who try to re-write their words, copy their style and even blatantly plagiarize. It has happened to everyone I know. Not a single friend of mine has taken kindly to this.
It has happened to me, more than once and more frequently now than ever. I have people try to rip off my writing, fully plagiarize my intellectual property and I’ve even had someone outright steal the entire design of this blog without even an apology.
I’ve talked to lots of people about this issue. There seems to be only one clear solution that everyone I know can agree upon: Stay an original. Keep innovating.
When you are an original, you can’t be stopped. When you are authentic, people can feel it. Even when my blog design was stolen, people who noticed replied that the design somehow looked horrible without my content filling in the spaces. When people try to steal your style, your intellectual property- even your boyfriend or girlfriend- get a bit excited: it means that what you have is soooo good that they have to try to have it!
When you innovate, you are always making the future. Thank those who try to steal because they are the fire that can push you to personal breakthroughs far bigger than you’d ever have thought were possible.
When you move strongly and forwardly into your original voice, your ideas, your weirdness and your genius, it is the greatest creative gift you can give to you and the world. Be weird. Be clever. Be yourself. Infuse your home & life & fashion & friendships with all of your one-of-a-kind-ness. Life becomes much easier. And try as they certainly will, no one can steal your extremely happy groove! xoxo Dana
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I love this! A few months ago, I had someone steal my website copy as their own and you could tell it wasn’t them. It wasn’t presented in the same way and just didn’t feel right on their page like it does on mine. What’s funny is that after it happened, I too wrote a blog post called “Be an Original!”
To the Originals!!!
sooo true- as long as you are being yourself everything and staying true to that seems to come around.. it is easy to get discouraged or loose track but in the end of the day your authentic self always shows up and it is important to give it space to shine and to remember to take credit for your experience and expertise.. People can always spot an original and what I like to call ‘drones’