More Than Our Mistakes

[The Stage is on Fire] is a page-turner in which, much like life, there are no easy answers and yet each step of the journey yields insight and hope. This work of heart must not be missed!

Melanie Faith

Creative Writing Teacher, Essayist & Poet.

Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.

The Society of Professional Journalists

In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.

I thank you … It is the authenticity of your “class notes”; and it is the delicacy and skill with which you present the nuances of classroom life and the actuality of your students’ and fellow teachers’ lives.

Maxine Greene

Philosopher and Education Scholar

Enter your email here to receive Weekly Wide-Awake

back

The buffalo fed on the buffalo grass that was fertilized by their own droppings. This grass had deep roots bound to the earth and was resistant to drought. – David Peat

What I Learn From Making Mistakes

Mistakes are life’s fertilizer.

Just as buffalo’s are strengthened by eating grass that has been fertilized by their droppings – the waste their bodies does not need – mistakes can strengthen us, too. Mistakes fertilize when we pay attention, learn lessons, try again, and make better mistakes. We begin again, and again, and get stronger each time. Perfection, not progress, is the point.

Most mistakes are not fatal.

I have recovered from many mistakes. I am still alive. When my biggest mistakes have happened, I have doubted recovery is possible. I have waded in the waters of doubt, anger, and self loathing. Once the journey to the dark side is over, I recover. In fact, I am generally better after mistakes: a littler wiser and softer around the edges of judgment and persecution. I brush off my butt and keep going.

Creativity is a necessity.

Mistakes require us to see things differently. That is a good thing. We have to modify and adjust in order to avoid making the same mistakes over and over. Changing routines. Seeking guidance. Trying different problem solving strategies. That is where creativity meets mistakes. That is also where ingenuity and innovation happen.

Apologies are important.

The older I get, the more I appreciate both giving and receiving a sincere apology. I am talking about the kind of apology that comes from the part of the heart that does not seek to hurt someone, the part of the head that knows right and wrong, and the hands that seek to make things right. An apology is like salve on the open wound of a mistake.

Mistakes become wisdom in the rearview mirror.

That is the trick. Turning mistakes into wisdom means we reflect and recalibrate. Turning mistakes into wisdom means we make amends. Turning mistakes into wisdom means we forgive ourselves and others. Turning mistakes into wisdom means we allow challenges and obstacles to fertilize our dreams and feed our aspirations.

https://kitt.global/june-3-more-than-our-mistakes-mark-nepo-the-book-of-awakening/