How Original Do We Have to Be?

I like being as original as possible: in my thinking, my speaking, my writing, my jokes, my ambitions, and my creations.

To an extent, the pursuit of originality is fruitless, as we’re all inspired by something and somethings. You can’t create from absolute zero and you can’t have output with no inputs.

Right now I’m working on a new collection of poems. The issue at hand is the title, which is also the name of the first poem and the overarching thesis, theme, and focus of the collection.

I had “pedestrian” in mind, after pruning down from “pedestrian quest” or “pedestrian question.” These led to “better pedestrian” which is very, very close to what I want.

Today I wanted to change it to “better on foot” which I currently think is the perfect title, but I researched and found there’s a record label already using that name.

I found the perfect name, but someone found it first, and now I have a lumpy throat thinking about putting out a work that shares a name with something else.

It’s funny, considering Hool was derived from the root word of Whole, and is a real person last name, and The Bronze Age is an entire multi-century era in modern history, so I shouldn’t be as concerned, especially if I’m getting more comfortable with sharing and more understanding that it isn’t worth sacrificing a better name in order to stay “original” in the naïve sense.

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