Everyone has them. But most are afraid of theirs getting out into the open. They seek desperately to remove all signs that they ever existed. They put in place processes and layers of accountability to purge them and act as if they never existed.
But me… I’m not ashamed. I kinda like mine.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I never do it on purpose. And I’d rather not let others find out about them. Yet all too often they still get discovered.
But what is the alternative?
Do we live in such a way… sheltered. Overly cautious. So concerned with perfection or at least the image of flawlessness that we become motionless and never take steps forward?
I’ve come to realize that light and shadows go hand in hand. Most would rather claim only light and fight against reality to act as if the dark side doesn’t exist. But instead, with a different perspective and paradigm, you’ll notice how shadows help to enrich the colors, shapes and appearances of objects in light. Taken in term of our lives, we can learn to appreciate our ups and downs, joys and pains and see how everything works together in forming the story our our lives.
——- Ok sorry, I’m going a bit off topic.
The main point is, when we exert too much energy, physical or mental, in effort to hide negative repercussions that result from taking personal creative actions – we end up never expressing who we really are.
Take this scenario—
Just last week, a friend and I were discussing this very topic. He mentioned some polar difference between his two children when it comes to writing.
He told me that one of his kids have vast amounts of creativity and will write unabandoned whenever they have an assignment. This includes both for school and personal writing. But his other child hates writing. No creativity, no joy, just pure dread as his main priority is to avoid errors.
So I take that story as a confirmation that I’m on the right track. I don’t want to live with the priority of avoiding errors.
I kinda like my typos because they are a sign to me that I’m writing. You can’t get typos unless you write. Likewise you can’t be criticized unless you speak out or get rejected unless you ask for what you really want.
Some people live to avoid error or hide imperfections. I choose to see fear, failure and faux pas as steps on the road of progress.