Originality and The Screwtape Letters

I just finished reading The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis. It was a fascinating read that really changed my perspective on many things in my life. The Screwtape Letters is a series of letters from one high ranking demon to his lesser demon nephew on how to slowly tempt his subject, a man newly converted to Christianity, away from the church.

In one letter Screwtape writes his nephew on the subject of originality. He informs the demon that humans have a horror of the mundane and safe, and that the church usually falls into that category of routine and sameness. Screwtape urges his nephew to tell his subject that only the original and new is worthy and desirable. I started to think of how many times I have stopped myself from doing something, or been ashamed of liking something that interests someone else because I felt that it showed a lack of originality on my part. I decided that it is all right for me to like things, even if someone else already likes it. Why miss out on a simple pleasure or enjoyment just because it has already been done? Why miss out on something that I love just because a friend has introduced it to me, and it was their interest first?