Daniel ➽ Letterpress Designer asked “Why is it, as a rule, I have more fear of succeeding at something than I do failing??” It gave me something to ponder.
Got me thinking. Perhaps also it's how we define success? If success is exterior recognition, then it's potentially everything you talk about here. But if success is continuing to get up in the morning, to follow your nose, to do something rather than nothing....then I guess success is ok.
Yes! I completely agree with you. I think one of most creative things we can do is to create our own metrics and definitions for what success is and what it means. And when it’s wedded to failing and iterating it’s something deeply meaningful.
I've thought about this often too - and as a thought experiment I've tried to view both success and failure as the same - choosing to focus on the artistic process rather than outcomes. Sometimes I learn most from the process of repairing my mistakes - Like this Zen story talks about https://tinybuddha.com/blog/not-all-good-or-all-bad/
I love this story! A had a counselor that reminded me of it often, and I always needed to hear. I think you hit on something really interesting - success and failure are not antagonistic, but synonymous. Not antagonistic but dance partners. Thanks so much for this!
You're so welcome! Glad you like that story too!! Yes indeed success/failure are dance partners - like the rain and the sun - both are necessary. 😘💙💚 Keep creating no matter what…
I like to think of failure as being in a dance with success and obsession, as every time I try something new and fail at it, it propels me forward. Keep trying, it says, keep experimenting, it beckons. And so I do. Every little success pushes me forward too, leading me to try something more challenging, which leads to failure again. And so it goes.... All of that falls under my definition of happiness. Much like you said in your conclusion! :)
These collages are incredible! There's something comforting to me about the colors and yet, as always this dramatic tension between the elements.
“a dance with success and obsession” - every word of this!! Hits so on target! Adam Savage says that “Obsession is the gravity of making. It moves things, it binds them together, and gives them structure.” It the unquenchable, unrelenting restlessness pulling us further and further into uncharted territory, towards ever new horizons, and undiscovered possibilities.
OH MY! This is so stunning!! Those first two lines are everything! The way they come "from the unknown", unpredicted and unexpected. the constant "entangling and disentangling". It makes me wonder if there even really is difference between teh two. It makes me wonder if they've always been one and the same thing. Thanks so much for sharing this!!
What a lovely piece. I've ruined every success I've had, unless someone or something whisked me away to another place, job, school of whatever. I thought it was just me.
This is stunningly beautiful! O’Donohue always finds me, always rings true. And “May the clay dance/To balance you” is another amazing example of exactly what I mean! Thanks so much for sharing this with me! Means so much to me!
I had to let this one soak for a bit. This will sound cliché, but you somehow put into words what rolls around in my mind every day. It might be why I don't crave attention or recognition. For me, there is no state of "flow" when I'm done. And the flow state is the drug. Failing and learning boost that sweet mental state. I don't want to be successful if it means I'm done learning. Mr. Victore got it right. You got it right, "It facilitates opportunity. A purpose. A guiding principle."
I think you’re exactly right, “there is no state of flow when I’m done” - I think this is precisely why I’m not particularly precious or emotionally attached to my completed works. Everything I needed to get out of a piece I got out of it within the process of making it. When it’s finished there’s not much left for me. And yet, that was one of the interesting things that happened for my when I was setting up the show this weekend, revisiting the collections of works as they were assembled together allowed me to see them differently. To re-member what I learned when I was making them, and it gave me pause to think about how I might reapply it today. I suppose that’s the trick to it, always remaining open to discovery.
I loved reading this. I think you're absolutely right, the fleeting and uncontrollable nature of success is its own beast. Failure and the struggle is so, so familiar and almost easy.
Also, this phrase might be my new favorite: "Failure is a shepherd"
Thanks for tagging me, I'm glad my note inspired this !
This hit home in a way I didn’t expect. There’s something reassuring about failure, it keeps us moving, reaching, restless. Success, on the other hand, can feel eerily still, like being asked to pose instead of play. I love the idea of failure as a shepherd, always nudging us forward. Maybe the real win is staying in that space of curiosity and unfinishedness.
Staying in the space of “unfinishedness” - Yes! What a wonderful way of saying it! Always reaching but never fully arriving. Working towards that which is always yet-to-be.
Not that much of what I do is failure or success.
<I start to tidy up the place / I try to make a mess>
You mention how it's key to embrace eternal seek,
As letting go of doing stuff is fuel to make us weak.
So long as taking action keeps us free from going stale,
It's safe to say that much success can come from when we fail.
Cleverly done! That last line!
Got me thinking. Perhaps also it's how we define success? If success is exterior recognition, then it's potentially everything you talk about here. But if success is continuing to get up in the morning, to follow your nose, to do something rather than nothing....then I guess success is ok.
Yes! I completely agree with you. I think one of most creative things we can do is to create our own metrics and definitions for what success is and what it means. And when it’s wedded to failing and iterating it’s something deeply meaningful.
I've thought about this often too - and as a thought experiment I've tried to view both success and failure as the same - choosing to focus on the artistic process rather than outcomes. Sometimes I learn most from the process of repairing my mistakes - Like this Zen story talks about https://tinybuddha.com/blog/not-all-good-or-all-bad/
I love this story! A had a counselor that reminded me of it often, and I always needed to hear. I think you hit on something really interesting - success and failure are not antagonistic, but synonymous. Not antagonistic but dance partners. Thanks so much for this!
You're so welcome! Glad you like that story too!! Yes indeed success/failure are dance partners - like the rain and the sun - both are necessary. 😘💙💚 Keep creating no matter what…
The rain and the sun - that’s gorgeous!! Thank you!
I like that James Victore quote, "Failure is a shepherd."
Such a great line! Glad you it home for you!
I like to think of failure as being in a dance with success and obsession, as every time I try something new and fail at it, it propels me forward. Keep trying, it says, keep experimenting, it beckons. And so I do. Every little success pushes me forward too, leading me to try something more challenging, which leads to failure again. And so it goes.... All of that falls under my definition of happiness. Much like you said in your conclusion! :)
These collages are incredible! There's something comforting to me about the colors and yet, as always this dramatic tension between the elements.
“a dance with success and obsession” - every word of this!! Hits so on target! Adam Savage says that “Obsession is the gravity of making. It moves things, it binds them together, and gives them structure.” It the unquenchable, unrelenting restlessness pulling us further and further into uncharted territory, towards ever new horizons, and undiscovered possibilities.
What a wonderful quote. Thank you for that! Obsession is also what keeps me awake in the middle of the night ! 😂
oof, same! Hard same! haha!
Just came across this except from a poem by Freidrich Bonheiffer:
"Success is full of foreboding,
failure has its sweetness.
Without distinction they appear to come,
the one or the other,
from the unknown.
Both are proud and terrible.
People come from far and wide,
walk by and look,
pausing to stare,
half envious, half afraid,
at the outrage,
where the supernatural,
blessing and cursing at the same time,
entangling and disentangling,
sets forth the drama of human life.
What is success and what is failure?
Time alone distinguishes."
OH MY! This is so stunning!! Those first two lines are everything! The way they come "from the unknown", unpredicted and unexpected. the constant "entangling and disentangling". It makes me wonder if there even really is difference between teh two. It makes me wonder if they've always been one and the same thing. Thanks so much for sharing this!!
What a lovely piece. I've ruined every success I've had, unless someone or something whisked me away to another place, job, school of whatever. I thought it was just me.
Thanks so much! It’s definitely not just you. I’m right there with you!
What a beautiful post. Success, takes away that prod, that longing and darkness.
'It comes with a diminishment' .
An Irish blessing is Beannacht, A benediction.
From the late John O’Donohue, for the consoling embrace in our most difficult moments.
'Beannacht'
by John O’Donohue
On the day when
The weight deadens
On your shoulders
And you stumble,
May the clay dance
To balance you.
And when your eyes
Freeze behind
The grey window
And the ghost of loss
Gets into you,
May a flock of colours,
Indigo, red, green
And azure blue,
Come to awaken in you
A meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays
In the currach of thought
And a stain of ocean
Blackens beneath you,
May there come across the waters
A path of yellow moonlight
To bring you safely home.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
May the clarity of light be yours,
May the fluency of the ocean be yours,
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
Wind work these words
Of love around you,
An invisible cloak
To mind your life.
This is stunningly beautiful! O’Donohue always finds me, always rings true. And “May the clay dance/To balance you” is another amazing example of exactly what I mean! Thanks so much for sharing this with me! Means so much to me!
I had to let this one soak for a bit. This will sound cliché, but you somehow put into words what rolls around in my mind every day. It might be why I don't crave attention or recognition. For me, there is no state of "flow" when I'm done. And the flow state is the drug. Failing and learning boost that sweet mental state. I don't want to be successful if it means I'm done learning. Mr. Victore got it right. You got it right, "It facilitates opportunity. A purpose. A guiding principle."
I think you’re exactly right, “there is no state of flow when I’m done” - I think this is precisely why I’m not particularly precious or emotionally attached to my completed works. Everything I needed to get out of a piece I got out of it within the process of making it. When it’s finished there’s not much left for me. And yet, that was one of the interesting things that happened for my when I was setting up the show this weekend, revisiting the collections of works as they were assembled together allowed me to see them differently. To re-member what I learned when I was making them, and it gave me pause to think about how I might reapply it today. I suppose that’s the trick to it, always remaining open to discovery.
“Success an impoverishment”—quite a notion!
E.M. Cioran always has a way shifting my perspective in really intriguing ways.
I loved reading this. I think you're absolutely right, the fleeting and uncontrollable nature of success is its own beast. Failure and the struggle is so, so familiar and almost easy.
Also, this phrase might be my new favorite: "Failure is a shepherd"
Thanks for tagging me, I'm glad my note inspired this !
So glad to hear it man! Thanks for that hit of inspiration! I loved pondering this. The struggle, itself, might be the best kind of success.
That line is from James Victore’s books Feck Perfuction, it’s a great read!
Agreed! Thanks for the recommendation, I'll check it out!
Any time!
This hit home in a way I didn’t expect. There’s something reassuring about failure, it keeps us moving, reaching, restless. Success, on the other hand, can feel eerily still, like being asked to pose instead of play. I love the idea of failure as a shepherd, always nudging us forward. Maybe the real win is staying in that space of curiosity and unfinishedness.
Staying in the space of “unfinishedness” - Yes! What a wonderful way of saying it! Always reaching but never fully arriving. Working towards that which is always yet-to-be.