I heard a talking head on tv the other day publicizing his podcast about failure. Pretty sure I could be a guest on THAT show. What piqued my interest was him saying, "Failure is the new success." WHAT? So I googled it.
We all learn from failure, and when you learn about how something doesn’t work, you can eliminate the idea, narrow it down and continue to find out how it really works. - from Quotivee.com
Oh. Well, okay then. I can certainly relate to this concept as evidenced by the WIPs in my sewing room. The older the WIP, the more likely I was in the process of failing to get the results I had in my head at the beginning of the project. Like the thread-painted cat I made. It looks "okay" but not amazingly fantastic as intended. But I learned so much by just trying the technique. I now know that stabilizer is my friend, as is a hopping foot. I "get it" now about different thicknesses of thread and using it with appropriate needles. I watched video tutorials but I didn't truly understand until I bulldozed ahead...and failed...and then tried other things. Instead of giving up, I learned. (Perhaps a little begrudgingly because I hate to admit I don't know what I'm doing.)
I don't know that I failed at art quilts, but by signing up for the art quilt boodle with our Guild I learned that I fail to have enough interest in making them to continue. I think that's more a failure of art quilts than me! Ha! I haven't totally ruled them out, but have for now. This is why I love the opportunities the Guild provides for learning and experiencing new and/or different styles, techniques, and processes. I had just cleaned and purged my sewing room, and I realized I should have kept a bunch of the stuff I purged if I was going to delve passionately into art quilts. You need a lot of bits on hand for art quilting. Mehhh...I don't want bits.
Why are so many people are afraid of failure? Because failure usually creates a negative feeling, giving us the idea that we aren’t good enough or that we’ve done something wrong. We need to understand that with careful reflection, we can investigate the root of our failures and work towards avoiding them in the future. The more you fail, the better chance you have at success in the future – it’s called experience. For experience to work, the most important thing to remember, is to avoid committing the same mistake twice. Otherwise, we are not any better off than our previous experience. - Quotivee.com
I like using "experience" instead of "failure". As inferred above, it's more socially acceptable. One of our Guild members, Cynthia Chaney, is the best I know at just jumping in with both feet and improv-ing her way through a project. She's kinda like a kid that doesn't know how to swim but runs and jumps in the deep end of the pool anyway - she'll either sink or swim but she'll have fun jumping no matter what! I've seen her grow so much as a quilter by doing it HER way. It's fun to watch, and I marvel at it, but I approach things more like the kid who runs to the pool, stops, and sticks a toe in to see if it's cold or not. Then I ease into the shallow end. The beauty of it is that neither of us is wrong in our approach to quilting. We're just different. Vive la difference! (I'm feelin' kinda French today since I had lunch at La Madeleine.)
My point is that we shouldn't let the possibility (which is often a probability) of failing stop us from making. No matter what we're making. Or doing. Or whatever. Keep in mind that you have access to some of the best quilters, sewists, embroiderers, and no tellin' what else by being a member of the Tyler Modern Quilt Guild. Just bring your problem project to Sew Day and somebody is gonna have a solution or, at the very least, a suggestion. Don't ask me...I have a tendency to make stuff up if I don't know the answer. LOL!
I hope all of you saw the recent video of Ellen talking about her friendship with former President George W. Bush. "Dubya". Paraphrasing, don't just be kind to people who think and believe like you, be kind to everyone. It's a good message, especially when it seems everyone in the world is looking for a reason to be angry, offended, or hurt. *sigh*
Fall is finally here and I hope it lasts more than a week or two.
-Angie Clemons
