It’s the first Saturday of the month and I promised I’d post about creativity. BUT it’s also the beginning of the year when I make an image to inspire me in the year ahead. SO I thought I’d combine both posts into one.
I’ve already talked about the fact that I’m a perpetual goal setter and some of my recent insights about that. As such, it should come as no surprise to many of you who have known me for years that I don’t do “New Year’s Resolutions” quite like anyone else. Instead, I look back at the last year in review (trying to focus on the big picture accomplishments, not all of the “I didn’t do’s”) and come up with an image that I want to use as my mantra for the year ahead, something that inspires me.
I have to admit that I’m still loving the image I created last year and might stick with that for my computer wallpaper. After all, I DO see this creative life as a journey that is ever unfolding in front of us (not a destination) and we can just keep swimming. IF we were sharks, we’d have to just keep swimming just to stay alive, BUT thankfully, we are not sharks. We are creatives who create because it brings us joy. Though yes, a lot of us would like to publish or sell artwork too (I get that), yet it’s ultimately about the sparks we get and what we do with them afterwards. Not everyone does that. Sparks are out there everywhere, but not everyone likes to play with fire and shape it into something like we creatives do.
That being said, no matter what journey we are on, we have to find time to PLAY and that means we have to be willing to fail. I’ve already talked about some of the paradigm shift I’m seeing around failing. Failing isn’t a bad thing. Our society keeps telling us that it is, but how will we grow if we don’t fail? How will we learn if we don’t make mistakes?
I ran across this quote by Churchill recently and, although I’m sure I’ve seen it before, it really jumped out at me and has been stuck in my brain. “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Who has enthusiasm when they fail? Kids do. I watch my Kindergartners at recess trying new things every day. They fail repeatedly. They fall, get up, and run off to try again. With sheer joy every step of the way!
Do you remember learning how to ride a bike? We did the same thing. It didn’t happen all at once. We failed, over and over again before we got it. We fell, we scrapped our knees and elbows, and we got back up. Without failure, we wouldn’t have learned how to do it right, how to ride a bike at all.
Are we willing to fail to learn something new and let it change what we know? How about submitting stories or artwork out to the void? Are you willing to be rejected over and over again, and yet still get back up on that dang bike and try again?
I found a quote from an encounter with Lee Bennett Hopkins that I wrote up on an index card recently: “Publishing is not a game for SISSIES. No one is immune to rejection. If you believe in a manuscript, it’s better in the mail than in your desk. Keep sending it out.” Be willing to fail. Fall off that bike and get back up again. Play with writing and art. Take a chance and be enthusiastic as you charge forward pell mell. You never know where it might lead. THAT is the inspiration I want this year and the impetus for this year’s image. I hope it inspires you too.
