I hear there is no original creation any more in terms of artistic activities: Everything we do is a copy or reconstruction of something that already exists.. I don’t go so far to declare this to be always true, but I do acknowledge that 99% of what we do in the name of "creating" can also be called reorganizing.
My writing might also fall under the reorganizing category. Sometimes I feel everything that has to be said has already been said (this happens on a daily basis during the winter season). But at the same time, I also feel every work has something new to offer the world as long as I remain true to my vision. Or I believe so—otherwise I won’t be motivated.
How do I succeed in convincing (or hypnotizing) myself that what I do is new, or at least unique? Judging from thousands of YouTube cat videos or zillions of Facebook dinner photos, I am not the only one who was born with this ability. Or it might be a universal attribute for the human race—for example, every newborn baby is the most beautiful person in the world in the parents’ eyes.
I have a hypothesis, which I've named "The Mirror Ball Effect" (©Isao) that might explain how we can repeat ourselves without boring ourselves, in the eyes of the higher presence (be it God or an alien or the deceased). Here it goes: The Ultimate Truth appears to us as a gigantic rotating mirror ball (as opposed to the number 42). That mirror ball is what we face when we engage in artistic or spiritual activities—the truth that lies at the bottom of our inner self (or at the top of our higher self).
The catch is the mirror ball, naturally, changes its appearance every time we look at it. The ultimate, unchanging truth might be the light bulb sitting inside the ball, but as imperfect human beings, rarely do we succeed in clarifying our skewed vision. First we must face the correct direction, and then we must see through layers of crap/dust that cloud our vision, which we've accumulated over our lives. Most of us can catch only the glimpse, or reflection, of what lies at the center: the mirror ball.
Therefore we end up chasing the elusive shadow, or glimpse, by repeating (almost) the same activity over and over, each time trying to do better (= become closer to the ultimate truth, the secret of the universe). We believe once we touch thehHoly Grail our journey is over; but at the same time, we secretly know (and hope) that day will never come. Maybe that’s fine—otherwise the world might be too boring a place to live.
P.S. The Mirror Ball Effect theory can also explain why we engage in bitter disputes about which religious view is right. I guess the truth is that everybody—Christians and Muslims and Buddhists and even atheists—is overall right, that we all see the same “thing,” because we are all watching the giant mirror ball. But because we are inherently defective, most of the time we end up being the blind men discussing endlessly what the elephant in the room is like, fussing over unimportant—and misleading—details. (I believe Buddhism is ahead in this race, but as soon as I declare that I am caught up in the web of ignorance and attachment, in Buddhist terms. Sigh.)