Are you a clone?

I am finishing up Kazuo Ishiguro's creepy novel Never Let Me Go (also a movie), about a group of kids raised from infancy in a special British boarding school for cloned kids. I won't say any more, in case you want to read it. But I will say that human cloning truly creeps me out, yet there's a little bit of natural intrigue there as well. Isn't that human nature – to be fascinated with that which repels us? (Today's Halloween, by the way).

The cloning theme reminded me of a much more mundane type of copycatting that is perhaps not creepy but that can be an impediment to doing what you want to do with your life.

I often ask people who their major influences have been and whom they most admire. It's inevitable that we learn from people who hold influence over us, for whatever reason. The people in our lives who are positive influences can be excellent motivators; if we know them personally, they can directly guide or mentor us to new levels.

This does not mean we should try to be just like them. In junior high, many of us tried to be clones of each other, or of the "cool" kids. You're not in junior high any more, thank god, yet some habits can linger. It pays to become aware of any tendencies you might have toward trying to mold yourself into a clone of your parents, teachers, friends, boss, mentors, or anyone else.

Trying to become a mini-whoever or a clone of someone we admire is exhausting and futile. Thinking you need to do things just as that person has done can suck the creative juices right out of your endeavor. It can feel phony as well as be extremely stressful to try to live up to another person's image or to try to mimic their approach step-by-step.

It's much better to ask yourself who you are and how other people can inform and inspire what you already know about yourself, rather than how you can mold yourself into a replica of that person.

(I know, Frankenstein wasn't a clone…but the picture works for the holiday and is pretty creepy, yes?)