I swing by Anthropologie every month or so, searching for inspiration, and I never fail to find it. Usually it’s some pretty beaded thing or an elaborate wall display that catches my eye, but this time it was a pencil case. A pencil case with the most extraordinary message printed on top. “What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?” What a wonderful message to have before you every time you pick up a pencil.
It’s a powerful question, and it has been instrumental in my creative life. I used to shy away from things that I couldn’t do perfectly, or things that I didn’t think I had the time or energy to master. If I didn’t try, I couldn’t fail–that’s true. But I robbed myself of a whole lot of joy in the meantime by denying myself the chance to dabble, to experiment, to make messes and play without the pressures of perfectionism on my shoulders.
It took quite a long time for me to overcome that pattern of thinking, but, oh, the fun I had when I did! I scrawled with pastels and took on hefty projects in the kitchen. I started learning Turkish and knit to my heart’s content. I got a sewing machine and started making necklaces out of buttons and beads. I scoured through junk shops for interesting supplies and coordinated the wackiest of outfits (just ask my friends). Once I got started, I was totally intoxicated, and the breadth of my creative experience is ever-expanding. This year I’ve taken up cross-stitch and quilting. Who knows what next year will bring?
Am I perfect at any of these things? Absolutely not! I suppose in that sense, you could call my efforts failures. But I am having so much fun. I don’t necessarily expect that I’ll ever reach mastery of any of my favorite activities, but there just cannot be any sense of failure there for me because you cannot fail if you are having fun.
There are so many things in life we can fail at. I’ll never be a ballet dancer or a singer. But that doesn’t mean I can’t pirouette around the living room and belt out my favorite songs in the car. Don’t let the notion of failure follow you into your creative life–replace it with a much better F word: fun.
When Eric and I were in Yosemite, we went snow skiing. It was my first attempt, and Eric’s second, if I recall. After a morning of unfocused effort, we caught an afternoon lesson in which we had the instructor to ourselves. He said something that has stuck with me ever since: “no matter how many years you’ve been skiing, you’re always learning to ski”. I’ve come to know that the same rule applies to any endeavor in life. If I want to feel the thrill of flying down the mountain , I’ve got to strap on the gear and risk planting my face into the snow.
What a beautiful example of this! I am actually not very adventurous at all about planting my face in the snow (physically speaking), so I could definitely learn a thing or two from you!
You are always such an inspiration to me as you boldly go where no woman has gone before! Remembering your fearless attitude has helped me find the same in myself, many times! This post is one of my favorites!
Aw, thank you so much! But you must absolutely know that I learned it all from you! You were awesome before I ever even knew what awesome was.
I would never call any of your efforts failures. In fact, there are things that you have done that have inspired me to try as well.
And many things you have inspired me to try too! Nothing can be a failure as long as you’re having fun!
Also I would like to say that I wanted to reblog this post. But I couldn’t figure out how to do it.
I don’t know if I know how to do it either! But thank you! Eric says he doesn’t know if you can because we are on different servers, but you can just copy and paste the whole thing if you want to
you are so right.. brilliantly said.
Thank you! You are inspiring all of every day with your art:)
This post reminds me of something Paul Coutinho said the last time I heard him speak. “Our performance is not our identity.” or–something I heard long ago when we were watching a chef demonstrate a recipe and he changed it. He said, “It’s not wrong, it’s just different.” That became part of the lingo around here. The real trick for me, though, is to believe these statements deep in my heart!!! I am still on my journey. . . .
And me too! Some mindsets are hard to overcome. And some lessons are worth learning over and over again! That’s certainly the case for me!
I love your posts so much, Cameron!
Aww, thank you so much! I love your blog too!