Ever get irritated by somebody who constantly imitates you? Who always has to do what you do, wear clothes like you, have hair of the same color as you, who competes with the way you speak, act, etc etc. When we are kids and younger, we all have somebody we want to copy or somebody who copies us. When we get copied, most of us get irritated, and feel as if that person is taking away our identity. But when we copy ourselves, we feel its ok, we are just improving ourselves, or perhaps upgrading ourselves to a different level. After so many years of people copying me and getting irritated with it, I think i have grown up and , well, try, to take it as a compliment. No doubt, when we imitate somebody we only do it because we think that person is doing something right, or perhaps that person represents a kind of life or image that we want to attain and somehow couldn't , or we think we can't. We are, unconsciously, following our own dreams that the person seems to represent.
Of course, the road to progress is through learning from each other. Now what we are learning or imitating is another matter, whether it is good for us or not in the long run. But imitation , I tell myself each time I see it happening, is inevitable. Even art, copies nature. So what God has endowed somebody with, it is natural for another person to imitate. We usually imitate to be "current", not to be left behind, to be always on top of things. And sometimes a more pushy imitator pushes behind the original, who doesn't blow his trumpet, his being what he is a natural state of mind and nothing to brag about, but for the imitator, the effort it took to copy definitely engenders a desire to flaunt his/her achievement of a successful imitation.
Although most of us do not take the trouble to think so much about why we are doing things, the underlying reason for imitation is always an attempt to feel good, perfect, wanted, accepted, through the imitation. All of us, want to belong, to somebody, to some group, to some identity. So since the ultimate goal is self satisfaction or actualization, how do we actually achieve it, because there will always be one more fad, one fabulous woman, or some catch phrase or avant grade idea to adopt. If EVERYBODY ends up doing the same thing, making the same noises, statements and taking the same initiatives, as is very obvious on social media these days, how do we get actual peace of mind? Originality, perhaps? But how do I know how to be original, Im such a bundle of sensations, impressions, experiences and influences, wheres the real me. Even my DNA is connected to ancestors living millions of years ago. If we are so interconnected, how do we find ourselves? The only way, I think, is to do what your heart says. Not what people say or told or advised you to do. Each of us has a soul that is our own, which is original, and the identity that will last to the other world. So whatever it says, do. You will be an original. You will be yourself.
