I appreciated Ann Lamott’s words, encouraging us to use lots of paper. Her phrase, perfection is a mean form of idealism reminds us all that there is a process to doing. And the DOING is often allowing ourselves to make mistakes, make a mess, throw the unkept portions of your work right on the floor, step on them, wad them up, and then move on. Give yourself the freedom to follow the creative process and relax. No one ever turned their first draft of anything into a publisher or gallery or board room.
The process of creating things takes time, energy, thought processes and lots of supplies. When I teach calligraphy I say over and over again, “It’s only a piece of paper!” Meaning, don’t worry about wasting supplies, or getting it right the first time OR even that it is going to hang in the Louvre Museum…it’s only paper! It can be hard to not feel like you are wasting supplies when you crumple up that piece of paper and it ends up in the trash. I have started saving my mistakes by storing them in a ‘calligraphy mishmash’ drawer. Ya’ never know when that mistake will live to see another day as something else. I often use my mistakes in collages and as backgrounds in other pieces.
“But I’m busy! I’m dedicated to learning how to do this thing right, so mistakes don’t help me move forward. I don’t have time for mistakes.” If you are not making mistakes you are not learning, changing or growing your skills. It is the awful presentation in the Board Room that makes you hunker down and learn how to present your ideas better. It is the misspellings that teach you to focus and pay attention. It is the paragraph you rewrite again and again until your friend flips it around to help your words read more clearly. I always find my most productive days are the ones where my trash can is full!
Let me encourage you to increase your inner production methods by trying to make mistakes and messes. Give yourself the freedom to process your ideas without limits or judgment. And use lots of paper…write, create, crumple up, try again, crumple some more. Don’t be mean to yourself. Remember, perfection is a mean form of idealism. Let go and get going!
Ann Art Gallery Blog 