Take Back Your Life!

Golly, can you remember when you were first taught not to make mistakes? I can’t pinpoint it exactly but believe it was somewhere in elementary school. Not in my second grade class, where my teacher taught me to take chances. But somewhere else. I’m guessing 4th grade. That is when I first started to feel pressure to excel and get good grades on tests.

After that I suffered from this horrible fear of making mistakes (MM). Once, when I got fired from a job at a bathroom accessories showroom during a summer break for making the “mistake” of not being aggressive enough. I became terrified that I would never, ever get another job because I’d gotten fired. Silly when I look back on it.

Yet, this fear of MM became quite paralyzing later in life. Then I somehow pulled myself out of it and began taking chances. And that’s when my life took off! And I started having a good time, seeing life as an adventure, creating cool art, singing fab songs, writing publishable essays.

Being creative is really about giving yourself permission to make lots of mistakes. And you take all those mistakes and they weave together to create something new. I’d argue that everything new is some kind of “mistake,” because you’ve chosen to follow a different route, which technically would be a mistake. You would be “off script” somehow.

Now, that I’m using acrylics I just paint layers upon layers until I get where I want to go. If it doesn’t feel right, I just paint over it. No need to rip it up and get all frustrated. I’m working on a new painting and I’ve already got about four layers and the image that needed to be born finally emerged and I really like it.

Perhaps, see 2015 as an opportunity to make more mistakes, take more chances, experiment with your life more. You never know where such an attitude will take you.

1) You can try to make a mistake on purpose with something small to overcome your fear of MM.

2) Or say, “I’m grateful for what this mistake will teach me,” if you get called out on something.

3) Write an essay about the greatest mistake you ever made and how it enhanced your life.

4) Do a collage on MM.

5) Gather some friends over wine and bring MM up as a topic. See where it goes.

Best wishes on seeing your mistakes as opportunities to change or grow.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year and Happy Creativity!

Thanks,

G.