A Life, and Medicine

Art of a Good Mistake

If life is an art, then I’m barely beyond finger paints. Lines appear to dash in front of my strokes, often resulting in a hodgepodge of color. But sometimes it works, and a masterpiece is born of the chaos. So should we have pride in these occasions? Should we credit ourselves for fortune that finds us?

In a word… absolutely.

Although I enjoy pointing to the providence in the world - I think this conversation is more similar to evolution mechanistically. I liken these pleasant accidents to radiant evolution, where mutations happen with no particular aim (and in all directions) yet within these options selection nullifies all except ones that create lasting advantage. The elegance and subtly here is nature is rewarding action and change, leaving static forms behind.

A less cerebral is example of this is a story my father tells when he was working in the woods. He was a bit green and working for an old man (lets call him Paul) whose family had been logging for ages. Paul is one of the hardest working men on Earth and a back-woods-old-school-hard-ass (still is). My father was kind of spinning in circles, not really understanding the flow of labor up on the landing (link above). After a minute of getting bitched at Paul yells, “God Dammit Son, Don’t care if what ur doin’s wrong er right… JUST DO SOMETHIN!” The point is simple, you can’t get something right unless your doing… well… something! 

I’ve experienced this lesson recently, finding myself in the company of people I greatly admire. I found at moments my vocabulary was slipping away, with the only replacement being audible grunts (or clapping?). At the precipice of inaction I heard the lessons shared above and felt empowered. 

That action is rewarded before inaction. That in order to get something right, you by definition have to be doing something. 

So don’t let yourselves blend into the background in fear of mistakes, simply because some of those possible mistakes will be good ones.

Thanks, as always, for your time.