How many times have I heard that one before? This rather drab and overused saying is a testament to itself. There's nothing new under the sun! That lovely thing adults tell children when we try to tell them they don't understand our modern day struggles. Not only is this saying annoying to hear from adults it's also seems terrifying for life in general. Nothing is absolutely original. Nobody is amazingly creative. This thought seems more horrifying the more you think about it, especially as an artist. You can't be completely original because you are always drawing from all other things you have seen, read, heard, experienced. Amazing ideas don't emerge out of nowhere, they come from the world that we live and breath in and nothing is never new. This is quite a depressing thought, until you realize that the stories that are appearing again are quite good.
As someone who is quite addicted to reading, I find that the stories we read again and again are extraordinarily amazing. They are somehow so the same but delightfully different, different enough that we don't feel as though we have completely wasted our time by reading the same story twice. The characters are enchanting and as someone who's favorite people live in fiction I am always delighted too observe my old favorites just like Mr. Foster. Everything is the same yet somehow completely different. New variations that are actually the same. The more you think about it the more magical it becomes. The same thing is somehow life changingly different. The greats can now be seen with the mediocre. Shakespeare is everywhere, but then you can't help but wonder where he got it from. The greats are no different, they just get all the credit. This is a comforting thought. Nothing has ever been new. The great accredited authors, artist, academics, etc. aren't any more creative then the rest of us, they just knew where to find the good stories. If we, the normal mortal individual, can tap into this amazing story find talent, then we can achieve the status of the greats, we can be just as immortal.
Now that we know that the same old stories are out there they are much easier to identify. Now that we know what we are looking for, the stories seem to pop out of nowhere. The parallels stand out as starkly as a naked person running and scream through the street. The brain cannot help but make these connection subconsciously. This chapter, Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before?, could have also been appropriately made Deja Vu because you can't help but eerily sense the similarities. It's amazingly terrifying and mind boggling. Unfortunately, the only way to find all the stories is to have read every story that has ever been written and told. It's an impossible challenge, never to be achieved but always worked towards. A goal that can always be held onto. Personally, I enjoy the challenge. Gives me something to live for.
