Monday, January 10, 2011

The Art of Failing


Today in my Design Process class (first day of last semester, whoop whoop!) my teacher was talking about one of his heroes, Pablo Picasso, and his childlike ability to experiment and do things outside of the "norm."


That really got me thinking and I think I've come up with an appropriate definition of "grown-up"

grown-up [grohn-uhp] noun
One who shuns failure.

Ok... So what?

Consider a child playing with building blocks. They build and build, concentrating on getting the right sizes and colors for their creation, then what do they do once their tower is complete? They knock it down and watch the blocks crash and tumble. Why? So they can build a new one.


Do you see what I'm getting at? Children have mastered, what I like to call, The Art of Failing. They don't see a broken tower as a set-back, but an opportunity to build something new, something better.

For what it's worth, I've failed PLENTY of times in my life and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't reluctant to gather up the scattered blocks and start all over again. But I'd also be lying if I didn't mention the depth of appreciation I've realized while building each new tower. I'm no master architect or what have you, but I believe each broken tower has gotten me to where I am today. And you know what? I'm SO excited about the blocks that I have in my hands and the thought of placing them where they're meant to be makes me giddy. Giddy I tell you!

So, keep failing, folks.
And keep building beautiful things :)




7 comments:

tscotriverside said...

Nicely put and good advice. It's kind of like the idea of turning 'stumbling blocks' into 'stepping stones'...a wise person I know once said that to me.

Anonymous said...

Well put :). Ever broken tower is just a step closer to creating something even better :).

♥♥♥

Jessie Gold Price said...

Love this post! Linds, you have a talent with writing and of course art! Love ya!

Kim said...

I likw that! btw I love your color scheme on your blog I call it turquoise mustard! :)

Brittney said...

You know...the only way one truly fails is when they stop rebuilding the tower.

tscotriverside said...

PS I didn't like Picasso for a long time because I felt like he misused his talents. However, two things changed my mind:

1) I visited Madrid Spain and went to the Reina Sofia museum and "Guernica"
http://homepage.mac.com/dmhart/WarArt/StudyGuides/Picasso.html

2) Pablo Picasso painted the original version of the shake face:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v704/147/102/203101190/n203101190_30245937_7411.jpg

Deborah said...

Well, as Winston Churchill said "Success is being able to go from one failure to another without loss of enthusiasium"
P.S. I can't spell