Sep 7, 2014 / Inspiration

“Make glorious, amazing mistakes.”

Words of creative wisdom, courtesy of Neil Gaiman.

The leap of togetherness by Prem Sahani <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(CC BY-SA 2.0)</a>

In Neil Gaiman’s now famous 2012 commencement speech at the University of the Arts, he offers some excellent advice to free us from perfectionism, imploring us to simply create — to make art — no matter what. What’s wonderful about this advice is that it applies to any creative endeavour, regardless of whether your art form is writing, drawing, painting, sculpting, or découpage:

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.

So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever.

There’s plenty of inspiration in Neil’s speech — check it out in its entirety.

Source: Brain Pickings

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  3. Well this is just my opinion but I think the term/phrases to use are “take the plunge” and “risk producing something” regardless of any unsatisfactory outcome (and art was the primary focus of such an encouregment in the article). I say this because when we risk producing something, or take the plunge anyway (despite the fear lurking in our hearts), we actually might end up with something right half of the time.

    It’s not all just mistakes (which is contrary to the view of Neil Gaiman). Taking a risk at something or taking the plunge, statistically has two outcomes, good or bad. So I’d say when we try anything novel objectively (without any accompanying favorable or unfavorable circumstances), the odds of it being correct are 50% and the odds of it being a mistake are also 50%. [So it’s a fifty-fifty thing when we take the plunge at something, even if we’ve feared it initially]

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  16. Sometimes the fear of failing to make art that anyone would be interested in is so paralyzing I give up before I start. I like the idea of pretending to be someone who makes good art then lets go and enjoys the ride in spite of having a messy life.

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  23. You wouldn’t believe the mistakes I’ve made, up until now other people thought my mistakes were an indication of me being intellectually challenged.
    Little do they know how I’ve grown because of these mistakes. Thank you for reminding me that it’s ok to mess up creatively and generally

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  27. Very inspirational and may encourage others not to try and be perfect all the other time and some are too scared to shout out their opinion because they feel that they might be wrong !! But you have to push yourself and allow yourself to share your opinion.

    But I loved this xxx

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