INSPIRING QUOTE

Rethinking Originality

We’re often told to “be original,” as if creativity means doing something never done before.

Think of when Americans first heard Elvis Presley’s rock & roll and lost their minds in euphoria. But wait, his music was a remix of Black rhythm and blues, gospel, and country traditions.

Or consider Apple’s iPhone launch— WAIT. Look closer and you’ll find the revolutionary smartphone was built on multi-touch research from the 1980s, existing smartphones (BlackBerry, PalmPilot), and Xerox PARC’s graphical interface.

Most times, creativity’s goal isn’t to be “the first.” Originality is rarely creation from nothing. Instead, it’s recombination with flair. It means not just borrowing or building on the past, but remixing it with distinctive taste, voice, and soul. The evolution should radiate intentional creative synthesis, not accidental similarity.

A core driver of why we like remixes so much is that people like things more familiar than unfamiliar. We use the old and familiar to better understand the new and unknown. And this remixing isn’t just for music or tech; it’s shaped even the world’s oldest traditions.

CREATIVITY SPOTLIGHT

The Sacred Remix: How Faiths Evolve Like Ideas

When we talk about originality, we rarely think of religion. But few domains show the creative processes of recombination, translation, and transformation as clearly as the evolution of faith itself.

Half of humanity today follows Christianity or Islam, and both trace their roots to Judaism. Each began with the same spiritual DNA— one God, one moral law, one covenant— yet both transformed that inheritance into something new and resonant for their time. And for today.

💡 Light Born from the Old Gods

Christianity emerged in a Greco-Roman world steeped in philosophy and ritual. It built on Jewish prophecy, weaving in the Greek idea of Logos (the “Word”) to reframe its message. Its churches adopted the Roman basilica, its art gave halos a new Christian meaning from pagan roots, and its calendar absorbed pagan festivals like Saturnalia and Sol Invictus, reborn as Christmas, the birth of divine light.

Christianity’s flair wasn’t rebellion; it was translation. It found new poetry in old symbols.

This creative remixing doesn’t end. Each reinterpretation sparks new voices, cultures, and ideas, ready for the next transformation.

💡 The Poetry of Unity

Islam arrived six centuries later, born in a desert crossroads alive with tribal customs and trade. The Kaaba already stood as a sacred site, its pilgrimage already practiced, but Islam rewove these into a monotheistic story of Abraham and unity.

The Qur’an echoed Jewish and Christian prophets, yet shaped revelation into a literary masterpiece. As Islam grew, it blended Persian administration, Greek ideas, and Byzantine art, into a vibrant tapestry of faith and beauty.

This pattern of renewal, not replacement, endures. Each faith reworks what came before, adding its own rhythm, color, and light.

💡 The Pattern Changes, The Light Remains

None of these faiths erased their predecessors. They evolved them the same way every artist evolves the influences that shaped them. The thread is the same; the pattern changes with each hand that weaves it. And the new doesn’t replace the old, but it illuminates it.

And even now, these faiths are still evolving. Hopefully, the next remix is a thread that connects the three with love rather than intolerance of difference.

And maybe that’s the larger lesson: the world’s greatest ideas endure not because they were invented once, but because they are remade with purpose, poetry, and flair. From sacred texts to startup decks, every generation rewrites the same story, finding new shapes for the same eternal truths.

BLINKS, THINKS & LINKS

Curiosity Candy

• Each episode of Song Exploder deconstructs a song track by track as artists reveal what they borrowed, sampled, or reinvented.
  

• Click and remix shapes to build your own city skyline in real time.
  

• Did You Know? Over a decade through 2021 that 92% of the top 10 Hollywood box office movies were either sequels, remakes, or adaptions.

ACTIONABLE PROMPTS

Remix What You Revere

Creativity rarely comes from a blank page. It also comes from a conversation with what already exists. The trick isn’t to copy, but to listen for the rhythm beneath the surface. And then change the beat just enough to make it your own.

Here are two simple ways to honor your idea’s creative ancestry while adding your own signature to it:

1️⃣ Reverse-Engineer a Favorite:

• Choose something you admire: a film, a product, a quote, even a movement.

• Now trace its ancestry: where did it borrow from? Who inspired the creator?

• You’ll notice each layer added one subtle mutation. Maybe a shift in tone, format, or context that made it feel new.

2️⃣ Micro-Remix Your Work:

• Pick something you’ve already made. Whether a post, product, or idea and change one element at a time.

• Shift its rhythm: rewrite it for a different audience, change its medium, or reframe its emotion.

• Blend in a contrast from another domain. Consider an artist’s mindset into a business plan, or a scientist’s method into your storytelling.

Every creator is part of a lineage of borrowed sparks passed forward through time. Your task isn’t to start the fire from scratch, but to add heat, hue, and harmony to the flame already burning.

Thanks for reading,

V.C. Hanna
Founder, Kreatio