Somebody important said this to me yesterday. My response: I sure hope not.
Making mistakes is the only alternative to becoming stagnant. I don't want to simply be what I am now for the rest of my life, so I'm willing to incur the occasional mistake in the pursuit of getting better at being me.
"You learn through mistakes" is more than a platitude. It's ironic, but sometimes the only way to learn to be more perfect is to goof up. It's a funny little world we live in.
People are, by definition, imperfect. I'm not saying that I'm proud of some mistakes I've made. There are some that, when I reflect on them, shame me to tears. But I am proud of the fact that I have tried to use the experiences to make myself a better person. I'm proud of the fact that I'm willing to put myself into challenging positions that open me up to the possibility of making mistakes. I suspect that the day I stop making mistakes, life isn't going to be worth living.
There's a couple of lines in a Dar Williams song that I'm particularly fond of:
And so resigned to bravery
I'm resolved to improving, so I'm resigned to messing up once in a while on my way to improvement. To someone special out there - don't be so hard on yourself. Because then you'd probably have to be harder on me!
2. Lovely wreath. Any particular reason this is your first?
That one from Mr. Moonman. The answer is that I've always hated Christmas. It's the single most depressive time of the year for me. There's nothing worse than being told that you're supposed to be merry and happy to make me feel miserable. I'm not good at obligatory joy.
That, and the fact that I was married to a Jewish man for over twenty-one years rather put a damper on Christmas decorating. I tried putting up a tree a couple of times, but it simply wasn't any fun doing it all myself while he watched television in the next room. So I stopped trying. I don't suppose a tree is a really good idea this year, what with the Kitten from Hell breaking everything in sight that can't be eaten (I wonder if she'd approach the tree as a breakable or an edible...).
That's one of the reason's I'm really looking forward to a California Christmas. It will be more like a vacation, and less like Christmas, so if I'm lucky I'll avoid the Yuletide doldrums.
3. lol... are salamanders related to lizards?
That one from Annette. And no, they aren't closely related to lizards, but since I'm using Escher's interlocking Lizards as my background, I figured I really should have gotten that as the piece of art I should be. I still feel cheated. (To anyone for whom this makes no sense, check out Annette's entry from yesterday on the Art Test.)