I just just finished reading a post by “kk29” (whom i assume is Kate Keller after looking at the class roster, however my assumptions constantly fail me) discussing pine trees in nature. I’ve had this same feeling countless times when setting literary works apposite each other. “No way,” I tell myself, “could the author have done this on purpose. The works are too far apart, the odds this author avidly read that author just seem too slim.” And then I step back and look at the common imagery or theme. “But its just too close to be a coincidence.”
I find that this happens an unavoidable amount in nature writing, just as “kk29” (still hesitant to call you Kate) discussed. I’ve found that using these common themes seems to be part of the human condition. We’re all similar. We notice and make sense of the same things. We see a beautiful landscape and it has the ability to remind us of something. Nature has the capability to take us places. Where it takes us, however, depends on the individual. And when we capture that scene and where it takes us, when we make it physical and write about it or paint it or speak, that’s when our interpretations of other works become enriched. When we read what others have to say about pine trees, we have no choice but to think of where it takes us, and where it has taken others. We draw from the experiences of others (no matter how subconsciously) and form them and shape them into our “own.” Why the quotation marks around “own?” Simple. Nothing is our own. Mark Twain said “There is no such thing as a new idea. It’s impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope… We keep turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been used through the ages.”
There is no way that two people (read: authors) could interpret nature, or anything for that matter, in the exact same way. It is how we build upon those interpretations that creates the beauty. Authors and artists are constantly letting us look into their kaleidoscope and showing us new ways to turn it. This very blog post comes from a small peek inside “kk29″‘s kaleidoscope, but we’re all using the same pieces of glass.