"Psychoklepsis - literally 'soul-theft' - is when someone expresses your inner life better than you ever could, and you resent it. It's when you hear a song, read a poem, or watch a movie, and you say, 'I can't express myself better than this stranger expresses me.'"
"Left unchecked, psychoklepsis curdles into paralysis - the feeling that everything worth saying has already been said, and said better."
Great writing often elicits feelings of anger and jealousy in writers, stemming from the beauty and emotional depth that they cannot replicate. This phenomenon, termed 'Psychoklepsis' or 'soul-theft,' occurs when someone articulates inner feelings more effectively than one can. It can lead to a sense of paralysis, where writers feel that all worthwhile expressions have already been made. The article also references a conversation with Philip Pullman, who shares an anecdote related to this experience.
Read at Big Think
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