I love this quote from Maya Angelou. A few months ago I was doing a show and I had all of my dolls and some of my fabric art pieces displayed and ready to sell. A woman came up to my table and really liked my work. She oohed and ahhed and picked up several of my dolls and had wonderful things to say about them. I thought that she was interested in buying a doll or maybe that she would be a potential customer in the future. She said "Oh no, I can't afford to buy one of your dolls but I hope you won't mind, I want to steal a couple of your ideas". I could have been a little angry, I have to admit that I was definitely a little annoyed. I told her that if she thought she could do it I couldn't stop her. I said that she would be using someone else's creativity instead of finding her own and the work she would be copying would never really be her own. God blesses me with a never ending supply of creative ideas that are all mine and mine to share with the world and people like her. I could choose to keep my creativity to myself, safely tucked away in my head safe from thieves and copy cats but what would be the point of locking it away? As the quote says "The more you use, the more you have."
Another great quote! I can see why you were annoyed, but good for you for what you said to her. Maybe it helped her to dig deep and find her own creativity. :)
ReplyDeleteI can only hope. She's really cheating herself. Discovering your creative spirit is one of the joys
Deletein life. I have another quote that I want to post later that speaks of that.
Thank you for your comment.