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Imitation is something we don’t want to admit we do because we’re all so goddamn original

At the top of a hike in Rio this winter, some friends and I stopped to rest and nosh. We had the rocky summit mostly to ourselves, save for a couple small groups of other hikers. The foggy atmosphere above the clouds felt particularly serene, and knowing we’d be up there for a minute, I broke off from the group to meditate. I usually meditate first thing in the morning, but because we got up early to start this hike, I’d missed my spiritual awakening window.

Aside from the mist sprinkling my skin, there wasn’t anything extraordinary about this meditation. But when I rejoined the group a few minutes later, they told me that while I was meditating, a young girl came and sat next to me, mimicking my pose on the ground. They showed me a picture of the two of us and sure enough there she was, sitting cross-legged with her hands rested on her thighs just like me.

I looked to see if she was still around, but she’d already left. The only proof I had of her existence was this photo. I don’t know if she knew what I was doing or if she even knew what meditation was, but something piqued her interest. And if at some point in her life she adopts the practice of meditation, I might’ve inadvertently played a tiny role in nudging her along that path.

Imitation is something we don’t want to admit we do because we’re all so goddamn original, when in fact we’re really just an amalgam of values, interests, and mannerisms of people we love and admire. I started to make art because my friends were doing it. I’m a leftist because my family members I love the most were. I’ve taken on laughs and quirks of many of my favorite people. And I say all that with my chest. I’m proud of the people I mirror. They’re the best.

This is true of many of your favorites too. Mk.gee is basically doing The Police. Andrew Callaghan’s unfitted brown suit is just like Eric Andre’s whose suit is just like Borat’s. Russian Doll is Groundhog Day but make it trauma. And that’s not to say that any of these things are bad or trite. I personally am a fan of all of them.

But most mimicry happens long before anything ever goes public—usually alone in a room trying to reverse-engineer someone else’s genius. Anderson .Paak and The Free Nationals spent years performing covers before they released their classic album, Malibu. Quentin Tarantino used to write out scenes of movies he liked from memory. These repetitions can guide you through the motions of material or practices you admire, which can lead to something novel or just a unique combination (I’m looking at you, bleached eyebrows).

The moment I shared with that girl on the mountaintop moved me because it reminded me how much of a gift imitation can be. Even the way the photo was framed—with our bodies oriented in the same direction, descending in age from left to right—visualizes a sort of microcosm of this idea. Like a human evolution diagram (with me as the caveman) playing out in real time.