Don’t let doing it “the right way” blind you from seeing your Creativity
In my STUDY, SAVOR, & SUPPORT Each Other CHAT☕️🍵, we’re doing a deep-dive into our Book Club selection! This week is Chapter 4 of BECOMING AN ARTIST: Reinventing Yourself Through Mindful Creativity by Dr. Ellen J. Langer.
In Chapter 4: The Mindfulness of Mistakes, EL states, “Mistakes, if we are attentive to them, can help us tune in to the present and allow us more mindfully to pursue our desires rather than our rigid plans. Mistakes are signals that we went off our predetermined course, but they can present us with choices we may not otherwise have recognized.”
To illustrate this, she describes how she was painting in the hospital when she was nursing a broken ankle, and a nurse watched her paint so many times that she invited the nurse to try painting with her.
Rather than tell the nurse “how to paint,” she invited the nurse to explore it for herself.
And she went even further. She encouraged her to make mistakes by telling her, “The fun doesn’t begin until making your first error,” and periodically asking the nurse, “Did you make a mistake yet?”
When the nurse finally did, EL asked her to incorporate the “mistake” into the work, rather than try to “fix” it. The nurse did so, and everyone liked it, including the other nurses who put it on display.
In EL’s own experience, she discovered that a “mistake” she’d made in her own painting — not loading the brush with enough paint — created a background effect that held her interest. One she was able to incorporate into the final, rather than washing it out and starting all over. It made the painting better as a result.
Likewise, in a series of scientific studies, participants who were told to incorporate their “mistakes” into their final drawings all ended up pleased with their work. And, the testing showed viewers enjoyed the artwork that incorporated “mistakes” more than the works without them.
The True Nature of Mistakes
These stories and studies show that, contrary to popular belief, mistakes may very well hold the key to a deeper form of creativity.
One that asks our brains to find novel ways to repurpose what arises, instead of adhering to set criteria or a fixed plan.
I can now see: What the Planning Mind sees as trash can very well be the Creative Mind’s treasure.
As EL puts it, “Mistakes, like all evaluations, are context-dependent. In one context a mistake is an error, while in another it can help us turn a surprise advantage.”
And, ironically, by incorporating mistakes into our final work, others may appreciate our work even more.
Making Mistakes encourages Mindfulness
Ultimately, a mistake forces us to be aware of the present moment, to notice how what we have done or thought differed from our original plan, and to generate a creative solution to make use of it.
Plus, there’s an emotional payoff.
“The looser our plan, the more room for creating something new, which is a far more rewarding activity.”
And guess what?
The “problem of how to cope with mistakes” automatically evaporates.
The Bottom Line: Don’t let doing it “the right way” blind you from seeing your Creativity
In the end, the mistakes we fear so much are precisely what makes our Creative Work more enjoyable for us to create & for others to enjoy.
Like a hand-made rug can hold more value to us than a machine-crafted one.
And, doesn’t your Inner Creative find it delightfully relaxing, to see how mistakes can be transformed into interesting solutions?
I can feel my “Type A” mind relaxing its vice-grip on the creative process, like I’m giving it permission to enjoy the process.
And I’m starting to see how my first inclination — to “fix” the mistake, to try again, to “do it right” — is precisely the kind of thinking that may be limiting me.
I can now ask: Why not try a more playful approach, and see what happens if I loosen my grip?
It helps me to realize, not everything has to be perfect to be valuable. Like a kintsugi vase, the golden cracks are what make it so beautiful.
Now, take a Mindful Minute, to ask yourself:
⭐️ Do you agree?
⭐️ Do you view mistakes as something you always “need to fix”?
⭐️ Or do you see them as just an unexpected detour that you’re open to exploring further?
⭐️ Do you invite yourself to be open to the process as it evolves, like EL did, when she asked, “Did you make your first mistake yet?”
⭐️ Have you ever tried incorporating a mistake into your final work, like a forcing function to make it work for you, instead of against you?
⭐️ Perhaps it’s the mistake that makes the human heart shine through our creative work.
🧠🎨The Perfectly Imperfect Creative in Me🎨🧠
🧠🎨honors & respects the Perfectly Imperfect Creative in You,🎨🧠
Marisa
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