What to do: Embrace mistakes
What to do when everything is coming out wrong? What is wrong anyway? Is wrong inherent? Or does it just mean that things aren’t lining up according to my preconceived (and perhaps somewhat pompous) expectations?
I made this pencil roll for a friend of mine. I thought it would be neat to have this reminder be really present (like, literally present) every time she went to make art. It’s an awesome idea, except for the fact that of the two of us, I’m the one that needs the reminder.
- Wild Olive posts some pictures of stuff that she thinks didn’t quite work out. I might disagree…
- Megan of Ghost Academy did a series of posts called Squashing the Stinkers where she takes some of her previous work and redesigns, fixes, or makes it better. At the end, she decides to just discard some of it, which is a post for another day. Awesome.
- France of Wagonized posted some of her less-loved sketches. How many of us wish we had toss-aways that looked like hers?
- Charlie of Productive Flourishing lists 21 quotes about persisting through failure and mistakes. These are definitely worth reading, from the likes of Thomas Edison, Keates, Joyce, Roosevelt. I mean, there is some really good stuff there.
- Laura Smith faces the fear of “messing up” (I found this article first on Accidental Creative).
- A book title caught my eye recently — Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success. I have no idea if it’s any good (and probably won’t read it to find out) but I liked the title. Have you read it?
- There’s no end of self-help-y books and articles on this topic. If that’s your thing, you might start with one by Ken R. Harness called, simply, “Don’t regret past mistakes. Embrace them.” Like most self-help stuff, though, you can pretty much get the whole message from the title. The title is the point: embrace your mistakes.
Are mistakes inherent or perceived? What do you do with yours? Do you even make mistakes? Am I the only one? HELP!? (Okay, just kidding with that last little bit, but you know how slippery the slope is.)
No related posts.
Thanks so much for the link to my blog entry. And now I’ve discovered your lovely blog home. I think I’ll be spending some time here. Most definitely! The photo of your workspace is enough to get my creativity sparking. It’s sad to think about all the art that’s been thrown out in the name of “wrong.” I’m starting to think of it as more of “not right at the moment.” We’ll see if that helps…
Comment by Laura Smith — 7 May 2009 @ 10:18 am
Hi!
Cool post and very appropriate for quilting… I make mistakes all the time, sometimes by accident, and other times out of a mix of complacency and laziness (e.g. http://cuttingedgequilt.blogspot.com/search/label/Disaster%20Quilt). Mostly, when I make mistakes in quilting, it’s not a huge deal as I don’t follow patterns and often don’t cut all the fabrics at once, so I can a) amend the pattern, e.g. put corner blocks on the border if the border strips are too short and I’m out of fabric or don’t want a seam and b) notice a mistake before I cut everything wrong.
Just last night I did an improv border that worked out when I laid it out, but one border strip was about 8″ too short when I was done sewing and ironing. So I cut another piece, patched it on and all was well again in my world.
I don’t think I’d ever throw something “mis-quilted” out… so far I’ve been able to fix everything into something I like, and if I ever have a block that can’t be saved, I’ll just start a pile of misfits for a really funky quilt.
Lastly, part of the reason I took up quilting is that I wanted to get over my perfectionism. I now have just enough of that flaw/virtue to get nicely lined up corners/points, but I don’t open seams up unless the corner is off by more than 3mm and really quite obvious. Maybe I’ll even get more lax there over time! Like everyone will tell you: no one will ever notice the seams not matching, except you, the maker (and me, because I seem to have an eye for out-of-order things. It’s probably why I’m a perfectionist).
And the guidelines my quilting teachers always used: “Leave it, unless someone riding by on a galloping horse would notice.”
Oops, long comment!
Cheers,
Christine
Comment by Christine — 7 May 2009 @ 12:09 pm
And a reply to Laura Smith – I think she’s totally right saying Art is not wrong, just not right at the moment. I’m just reading a book by a very cool author, a Dutch biologist, Midas Dekker. He’s written several very neat books, this one is on decay, “The Way of All Flesh”. In it, he points out how art restoration has totally changed over the centuries. E.g. an old painting of Adam and Eve had strategically placed leaves added, then removed, then different leaves added and finally removed again. What’s considered in need of restoration in one century is considered to have “the charm of old age” in another century. Very neat concept… And I recommend the read – Dekker has also written about our love of animals – literally, and about larval development (may not be translated yet), which draws really neat parallels to human puberty, e.g. he compares goth and other phases during adolescence as a type of cocooning process.
Cheers,
Christine
Comment by Christine — 7 May 2009 @ 12:33 pm
I’m reading a DIFFERENT self-help book, “Liquid Mirror,” by Kelly LaSha that I think people will like. The author is very into self-healing, spirituality and seeking it, self-improvement and fulfillment, personal growth and having a positive attitude and mind — all great things and all things I strive for! And there’s beautiful artwork in there, that helps make learning energy healing very simple and, I think, peaceful. It just lent a whole new dimension. Interestingly, I searched for an old newspaper column this morning. It’s titled, basically, “Wear Sunscreen and it’s by a Chicago Tribune columnist. Very popular about 10 or so years ago. Anyway, I found it and there was one piece of advice that resonated, and I think applies here. “Do Something that scares you every day.” (This column was a mock graduation address.) That’s kind of like mistakes. If you’re too scared to do anything, to make a mistake, you’ll never do ANYTHING.”
Just something I thought of today…
Comment by Rachel — 7 May 2009 @ 12:42 pm
Mistakes? Or happy accidents? I admit that I make both. As opposed to someone I one met who told me (with a sparkle in his eyes), “That’s the first mistake I’ve ever made!” But I think that whether you choose to use the mistakes to improve, or simply enjoy them, they are there for a purpose, right?
Comment by mollie — 7 May 2009 @ 1:10 pm
Okay, so the pencil thing you made for your friend is awesome. Can I have one?
Thanks for the sharing my post with your readers, and for bringing me back to the idea, as I needed to hear it again myself. Odd how that works.
Comment by Charlie — 7 May 2009 @ 1:19 pm
Sweet Mistakes by Ellis Paul – it’s a song that gets me in the gut.
Comment by Amy — 7 May 2009 @ 3:41 pm
Ah, when we stop making mistakes we stop learning… teaching that one to my (self) daughter right now…
in sewing, mistakes are often a good thing. You plans something the way you think it should be, but it never really turns out that way…
Comment by V — 7 May 2009 @ 7:15 pm
Although mistakes can be disappointing at the time, I try to embrace them and incorporate them into the piece anyway or create a very special piece just for them. Maybe a pillow or a small wall hanging I call them my ‘not-so-lovely-but-loved anyway’ pieces.
Comment by Lois0607 — 7 May 2009 @ 10:07 pm
Hey Mal,
I hardly ever start an art project with a goal in mind (beyond just one day completing it)…does this mean that I’ve protected myself from making mistakes by having no or little expectation? (probably!) That being said, there’s lots of stuff I’m involved with that are riddled with mistakes; Sewing stitches, brush strokes, ex-boyfriends, fashion choices from 10 years ago…what can you do except laugh and try your best to make lemonade?
I suppose its hardest to let things flow when you find yourself so emotionally invested in the project you’re working on that trusting your process seems impossible. Also, I think that fearing the judgment of others (”I could never show that in public! What would someone think?”) is a big hindrance to allowing oneself to make mistakes. I guess that’s why its so special when people are willing to show/talk about pieces or aspects of their life they’re not particularly proud of.
Take care,
- Liz
Comment by liz — 10 May 2009 @ 12:03 pm