Glorious, Amazing Mistakes

One of my favorite authors is Neil Gaiman. He's awesome in so many ways, not the least of which is how he set up a lamp post in a deserted part of his property just because he can walk his dogs past it in the snow and think of how it looks so very Narnian.

This last year has not been a banner year for me, in some ways. I've thought a bit about it as November edged into December. Yes, there were many good things. But I wasn't happy in my own skin. I've never been one for New Year's Resolutions, and I generally write out my goals in November (sort of a birthday thing) but I didn't do that this year and I realized as we neared the New Year that I did, sort of, have some goals to implement this time. I want some changes.

So it was just about the time that I decided I needed to follow some of these dreams, to fling these goals into the world regardless of what happens to them, to just run and jump off a cliff instead of taking the "safe" road, that Neil Gaiman posted his annual New Year Wish post.

(Go read the whole thing, because he quotes his past wishes and they're beautiful and wonderful and I wish I could past his entire blog into mine so I can share how awesome he is.)

But this is what he wrote for this year:

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something.

So that's my wish for you,and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever.

The funny thing is, I rarely find that the choices I make feel like mistakes, even when they turn out poorly. In a late-night chat with my darling Tracy, I realized that inaction can be the biggest mistake, while "mistakes" are often alternate routes to experience (and the fodder for some really great stories). 

So that's my plan this year. I'm going to make mistakes. I'm going to go off half-cocked, do things wrong, and not take advice. But it'll be on MY terms, and I'll be Doing Something.