I don't know about you, but I regularly catch myself measuring my contribution to the world based on its uniqueness. Meaning: I'm secretly trying to be "different", "new", "refreshing" – all of which also happen to be descriptive nouns most creatives hope to hear others apply to their work. Let's be honest – it's more than a "hope" – it's a "call me special and unique, or I shall die a thousand deaths" overly dramatic Shakespearean conviction…!
And I'm afraid that this consuming standard doesn't just apply to my work – it often snakes its way into my identity: Do I talk about new and exciting things, or am I a stock-standard conversationalist? Do I wear unique and stylish combinations of clothes, or do I look like every other 30something-year-old out there? Do I cook fresh and appetising dishes, or have SJ & I ever – in the history of our decade+ marriage - had this for dinner before!
It's exhausting.
Then there's the delightfully sobering book of Ecclesiastes that could essentially be summed up in the phrase, "There is nothing new under the sun; so eat, drink, love God, and be merry."
But a friend and mentor spoke to me about "new" vs "true" a few years ago when we were discussing a new television show that was in the tear-my-hair-out-I-don't-know-how-to-make-this-idea-into-a-show-why-did-we-ever-start-this-and-also-bleh phase of development with a production deadline mercilessly barreling down on us. Sadly, the show got cancelled. But not before "new" vs "true" hit me so hard that I count it as one of those rare and profound statements that changed the course of my life forever.
The standard of successful television, he said, is always to create something true - not new.
In the book Culture Making, Andy Crouch mentions our literal inability to create from scratch; we enter the world in the midst of an existing story with existing elements. For instance, painters use existing paint, canvas, their childhood experiences, their hands and their eyes to paint – they didn't (and couldn't) create the things they use. It's a humbling reality that, on the one hand, we can never take full credit for our creations because they simply aren't entirely "our" creations.
But he goes on to explain that when we use existing elements to make something, we bring something into being that wasn't there before – we are creating - and in this sacred act of creating, we reflect the Creator who gave us many fascinating things to joyfully keep creating from!
Our creations can only ever be "something else", never something"new", but it does have the potential to be "true".
Once we stop this devouring pursuit of "new" and simply focus on what is "true", something magnificent happens: we happily use, cultivate, and combine existing elements around us, apply a little of ourselves, and end up creating something else with it: We take ordinary dinner ingredients, use our skills, experiences, and knowledge of what our loved ones like and dislike, and put together a dinner that uniquely serves them.
There's so much more life in "true" vs "new".
"True" is infinite, divine, self-sacrificing, inclusive, and serves others.
"New" is selfish, secretive, hollow, fleeting, exploitative "neon lights and non-biodegradable plastic".
Let me just take a quick moment here to argue that the beloved "be true to you" is just another way of saying "new". The expectation behind this sentiment is to live out a unique and singular life that is, above all else, distinguishable from everyone else around you.
That's just the same old deceitful pressure neatly repackaged into a catchy bumper sticker!
"True" has very little to do with you. Its focus is outward - on lovingly serving others with something real, and deep, and lasting. The source of this Truth?
Now that's something to pursue…
22 March 2022
MK Wiggett
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New vs True
Nothing new under the sun.
Everything that is done has been done before.
Anything begun has now come and gone once more.
Nothing new under the sun.
What an illusive ideal to seek something unique.
What disappointment when you can't seem to find it.
When you can't create it.
When you can't write, film or paint it.
Is life spent?
Is there nothing new to discover for me?
Is there nothing left to be the first to see?
No story untold, nothing new to behold.
Unacceptable! I sing, I search, I seek.
Feverishly, relentlessly, anything! just to be unique.
I travel, I climb, I turn every stone
ruthlessly, persistently, for anything! still unknown.
If the very foundation of my pursuit is flawed and the object non-existent, is my pursuit in and of itself a hopeless endeavour?
"no" - comes the whisper.
Pursue. Wholeheartedly!
Not what is new, but True.
3 July 2020
MK Wiggett
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