subconscious culling

It would appear that not only do I absorb geeky little tidbits consciously. I do so subconsciously. Today I watched and episode of Pretender in which Parker and Lyle discuss their parental ties. Parker sends Broots on an errand to find out something more about Lyle and answers the unasked question with "Sometimes you have to shake the family tree to see what falls out." I was absolutely stunned to hear that as it is the title for my geneaology blog.
I knew when I came up with it that it was a phrase I'd heard before. But I kinda thought it was one of those things that everyone says when talking about family nut cases. But not everyone uses it. And Lyle is the family nut case. The worst part of it is that while I though it was common phrasing, some people hve asked me where I came up with that. And I never had an answer. Now I do. And now I wonder how much of what I write has been subconsciously culled from the vast amounts of media I absorb. Is anything I write original? That does not go to style, I mean content. Do I write original anything?
I know Wheatons 5 most important things for writers to know about the process says that we take things from the collective and filter it through our own experiences and personalities. But really... there is no creative use for what I borrowed. It is just borrowed. [sighes. frowns. contemplates removing all things from the net]
That last contemplative thought won't last for long though. I enjoy writing/keyboarding too much.
Which reminds me. Either I have been doing too much of that lately or I am getting arthritis. I find when I go to write anything, including my name, that my hands don't want to cooperate and my fingers resist the order to curl around any writing utensil. My finger don't actually like any of my tools; pliers, scizzors, paint brush... nothin'.