The Importance of Making Mistakes

I hate making mistakes. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. I was in Paris recently and walking along the Seine back to my hotel to dress for dinner after having walked around the city for the afternoon. The temperature was cool so it was perfect for walking and walking and walking. On my way toward la Place de la Concorde, I passed Boulevard St. Germain (where there are lots of gorgeous shops). I thought "ooo lots of gorgeous shops, I should come back here on my way back." So on my way back, I walked down toward Boulevard St. Germain and turned right to walk toward my hotel near la Tour Eiffel. I soon realized that I had left the shops behind and was heading into the deadly dull government district. I found I was getting madder and madder at myself as I continued to walk. How could I have messed up and missed the shops?! Why do I always do that!? What a numbskull! This is a complete waste of time! When I considered turning around to go back I realized I had gone too far and wouldn't be back to meet my friend for dinner if I did that. So I left the shops behind and continued walking, continued getting mad.
And then I realized I was walking IN PARIS and just getting mad and suddenly it all seemed so ridiculous. So much so I laughed to and at myself. And then I looked up and looked around and took in the sights (even if they were just concrete walls and iron-barred windows). I cut down a side street to see what was there. I explored my way back to my hotel and had a little adventure with it. And later in the week when I was walking back from Musee d'Orsay I walked along Boulevard St. Germain past all the gorgeous shops and enjoyed them before cutting down different side streets for a new adventure on my way back to the hotel.
I learned from this how hard I can be on myself for making mistakes. And I realized that making mistakes is actually what led to me having more adventures, exploring more, extending myself beyond my comfort zone.
And I realized this was true for me in painting as well. This morning I was working on a painting from my Kanji series. There was something missing and a big red block that I didn't like. I got that I had stumbled across a wonderful mistake. The painting was out of balance and the red block wasn't interesting -- it domineered the rest of the painting and had no dialogue with the other shapes. It needed a subtley added to soften it. So I searched through my book of Kanji for another image to add in a softer red to the block. It already had the Kanji for love repeated in two squares. So I thought about love and the red block initially made me think of passion. But then I thought more of it and realized that to truly love someone is not about passion -- that ebbs and flows -- but about courage. Because to love someone is to have the courage to speak up, the courage to stay steady when the storms come, the courage to open up, the courage to trust, the courage to believe it's possible. The courage to look at a mistake and see opportunity, perhaps even a side street for adventure and exploration. And so courage it was. The final painting is called "Love, Love, Courage" as seen here.
© 2006 Sarah Canadine Bayne www.abundantcreativity.com and www.sarahbayne.com