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"It is through our mistakes that we grow and learn."
- Jessica Peill-Meininghaus, The Gnome Project
How many times have you been banging against the same door only for it to never open? Or, you don’t want to accept that, then try to force your way onto things. You grab whatever “crowbar” you’re working with and try to pry that creative door open so you can make it work just to get inside.
(Exasperated sigh…)
This is how I feel sometimes when working on something over and over and over again and it’s just not coming together, no matter what I do. Where do you go from there? Can you take a deep breath, step back and let go? Sometimes I find that hard to do and continue bulldozing through. Do you even know when to let go and walk away? Or, when you need to put distance between you and what you’re working on and return sometime later? I don’t always know and keep running that lap to nowhere with end results of shaky legs and pure exhaustion. No benefits.
I try to experiment on top of the mistakes. Sometimes that work. Sometimes it doesn’t and becomes a monumental disaster. I read somewhere we never fail. We only discover new ways how NOT to do something. I like that. I give space for these words to roam around in my mind, freely fromping around in their robe and slippers, kicking back, just “being”, relaxing, no care in the world, completely centered in itself. It seems to ease the frustration that is pressure cooker-ing (yes, I know it’s not a word but one of my many that I make up) inside me anytime those disaster gremlins are hanging around. Or, as Elizabeth Gilbert shares in her book, Big Magic, Inspiration is an actual identity, not much different from you or me, and says Inspiration just didn’t come to visit you on that day. When Inspiration does visit, magic happens. You can see it and feel it. It’s partnering with you.
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Well, I didn’t have any visitors today which is evident in my work…this is basically my work minus the smile. I am currently sporting a completely defeated attire.
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Wouldn’t it be great if Inspiration permanently moved in? I’ll begin to clear out the guest room…
