Yup, I agree with all of that. Also though from the perspective of the artist, I prefer to think of the act of creation as not coming fully from the artist, but moving through them.

Like people used to not say someone is a genius, but that they have a genius. It was basically the same thing as a genie - a helper.

Also the book Steal Like an Artist has a lot about how you should stop trying to be totally original and just accept that your work is and will always be a mish-mash of different influences. It even advises you to simply try to emulate your heroes, and in failing to do so accurately, you’ll find your own unique voice.

Another way to think of creativity is that it’s like a kind of temporary possession that you have to exorcise by creating the thing, I call this the “taking a shit” model of creativity.

This isn’t to demean artists or their work, I find it takes the pressure off of me presonally.