Uniqueness vs. authenticity
A point at which a lot of my clients get stuck is the search for ultimate uniqueness.
The question “but did anyone else ever do this or ever think of this or ever want this or feel this and what does that say about me as a person?” seems to hunt some of us to a point where a productive contemplation of a project sometimes becomes hard to maintain.
Can I relate to this? I do. Of course. As an artist, I strive to not only avoid copying others but as well to avoid copying myself. In other words: I aim at being unique and innovative at all times.
That being said, I believe that as a culture we got two concepts mixed up: uniqueness and authenticity.
Uniqueness is the idea of being unlike anyone else.
Authenticity is the idea of being radically true to yourself.
As it is fashionable to assume that as individuals we’re unlike anyone else, authenticity and uniqueness became supposedly interchangeable terms. In a world populated by 7.5 billion people, though, it’s hard to imagine 7.5 billion individuals, each sharing nothing, no tastes or preferences, no fears and no trauma, with any of the other 7.5 billion individuals.
In fact, the mere notion of culture goes against that possibility. Culture is all those things we share one with another. It’s our only way to have the illusion of being able to escape the unbridgeable gap between my true inner self and yours. The myth of absolute uniqueness hence creates a consciousness of an isolation even more crushing than it is, to start with.
More than that: the expectation to be unique in all possible ways keeps us in an impossible limbo. Just like consumer culture as a whole, it keeps us inherently unsatisfied, constantly striving for the impossible, constantly doubting ourselves and easily manipulated into whatever promises us that inaccessible uniqueness for the right price.
Uniqueness. Thanks midjourney
The reason is almost self evident, once we notice it: uniqueness is a characteristic measured by our relation to others. If I cannot be like anyone else, anyone around me has infinite power over me. By simply being like me, in any kind of way, they are capable of throwing me off that throne of uniqueness.
Authenticity, on the other hand, is an inherently introspective act of self discovery. Becoming my true self by discovering who I already am, finding out about myself, undisturbed by any outside circumstances and demands, doesn’t need anyone else to be or act in any specific way.
So let’s all focus on authenticity. Whenever you find yourself casting aside an idea because it “has been done”, be kind to yourself, pick up that idea again, look at it and ask yourself “does it express what I feel? Does it echo in my soul?”.
If it does, don’t worry about those anonymous millions who may or may not have tattooed the same thing before. If it fits what you feel, if it reflects what we’re trying to express, it’s exactly what you’re looking for.
Uniqueness. Thanks midjourney
