Sometimes the project just won’t work. Sometimes the grand idea flops. It happens to everyone. The hard part for most people is accepting this failure. It’s probably that word. Failure. Just the very mention of it conjures up thoughts of personal worthlessness and un-over-comeable inadequacy.
So what does one do in the face of an absolute and irrevocable failure? Well, some people don’t care for long- they push it to the back of their minds, where they can quickly forget about it. Others obsess compulsively in a feverish attempt to overcome wretchedness. Other people (like me) do both. In today’s modern society, it’s not socially acceptable to admit to failing. More often the response is, Quick! Hide it, and maybe no-one will notice… I have a piece of advice, however.
Fail boldly.
As an artist, I face the prospect of failing all the time. What if no-one likes my work? What if I can’t pay my materials bill because no-one buys anything? What if I waste those very expensive materials?? I promise you, it’s enough to keep someone (alright- me) awake at night. But it’s gradually dawned on me that when I am running closely to failure- I am also closest to my most blinding successes.
Major manufacturers have known this for years. They test and test their products to make them fail- and then rebuild them even better. I have decided to embrace this philosophy. I can’t succeed if I never try, playing it safe never won the race, nothing ventured nothing gained- and all those other clichéd platitudes.
But what if I go about with the intention to try and fail? What if I work my hardest to include the likelihood of not only failing- but doing so in a spectacular manner? Imagine how amazing my successes would be then….
There’s no such word as “failure”!
It’s called “experience” or “learning opportunity”.
My life has been full of such experiences.
Good fortune to you…
I have gotten better as I have grown older.
I love the saying “There’s not such thing as spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire”
I take it as – let the artistic Fire consume you. When you are consumed with something you can’t stop to think about whether something is a mistake, or whether you might fail. I try to get carried away, caught up in the moment.
Okay, I still lay awake at night sometimes, but I don’t have the hesitation I once had when creating.
I totally agree with what you’re saying in terms of content. Um. However, as someone who once had the theme song “They call me Cinder” set to the tune of “They call me Wendy”, I cannot actually fully agree with anything that involves lighting oneself on fire. Really. I’ve done it- not once, but several times! Not a fun experience… 🙂 I still love flame, and fire, and my creative processes, but I love my skin as well.
I still remember the first time I used an oxy-acetylene torch, setting my clothes on fire! Definitely a learning experience…