#learning to fail

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Learning to Fail/ finding the inspiration to continue on

Hello random person who has stumbled across this post. I bet you are wondering what I’m writing about and why should one learn to fail. Well let me explain a little bit.

While following numerous authors, one of the most number one questions to these beautiful souls are? “I’d like to start writing” or “how to I start writing and working my blog” or something similar.

Let me first start off by stating I AM NOT A WRITER! By no means do you have to listen, read, or even take this advice. But what I do know is how to fail.

Weird success right (hehe), but let me tell you it is a hard skill, but an extricating useful skill.

Throughout my little life, I have meet countless people. Some people I still communicate with, others I don’t and then there are others that even if we have drifted, we still encourage one another. A close friend draws for commissions. Has her own site to place her portfolio for others to explore. Another, writes reports for a company (current job), but on the side she continuously edits works for people for creative writers, while also running a club (?) where people meet up to just write, explore, and just be with like minded people. No matter the hobby, career, or something spur of the moment, don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Let’s break it down a little.

Just start somewhere.

There are a variety of options for numerous creative outlets. Want to learn to write, challenge yourself to even on a small scale, or just put your ideas out there? Here are some options I have gathered from people around me.

1. Guess one of the most popular is nanowrimo. Lol obvious and obnoxious right. Like how could I just put that out there. But from experiences of others, this is a good starting point

2. Join a local writing club. There is an app I use quite frequently and it’s called Meetup. I’ve joined clubs where my hobbies bring together people from all walks of life, and we just enjoy the company of people with similar interest

a. If in person is a fear, no worries. With increasing advances there are online forums, sites (tumblr), and I’m sure others.

3. Sign up to beta

Fan art or just wanting to draw in general. Start small. Doodle. Sketch. Find a source of inspiration. The easiest way to learn is to practice. I know it isn’t as simple sounds (even I had to be like huh do I really want to include this is my post). However, there are youtube videos where illustrators guide basic knowledge. There are books. Little apps (some free, some expensive and those inbetween).

Many (some of the most prominent people out there actually) had a small start. If anything, 99.9% of people on this site are wonderful people to communicate with. Enjoy their work? Want advice? I guess the best advice is to just try. Little worried? Most have anon options.

Some of my favourite authors (both on this site and those that have published physical books) have had to start somewhere. Some massive creators (I watch way too many documentaries - Disney being a large one for art) have rejected ideas, rework pieces, tweck, scrap and may even just take a break.

Also, if you just want to do this as a hobby too, or a creative outlet that’s perfectly understandable. Just be you and do you.

I guess, the number one point if you take anything from this post is this

don’t create to succeed, create for yourself. Even if one person responses, enjoys, and finds comfort from whatever you create; guess what you made a success. And if even it doesn’t, realize that just putting it out there is one of the biggest leaps of faith IN YOURSELF you can ever do.

[blackswaneuroparedux]

All of old. Nothing else ever. Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.

- Samuel Beckett, Worstward Ho   

Skiing teaches you that to fail is not about falling down but in staying down.

Don’t let 2020 get you down. Time to get up for 2021.

[bigboxofbees]

Life lessons from a Formerly Gifted Child™

1. You are going to fail

Failure is inevitable, at some point you will fail. Being a perfectionist is hard, being a perfectionist with a fear of failure is even harder. Don't be too hard on yourself, and learn how to fail. That might sound silly, but I had to do that. I was really afraid of failing at anything, which caused me a lot of anxiety (both in school and outside). Being okay with failing at something can be really hard, but when I got back an essay that didn't get approved and needed to be adjusted, I didn't have a breakdown, I just fixed it and turned it back in.

2. Failing at something does not make YOU a failure

Now this one can be really hard, especially if your smarts or a certain skill have been your main source of pride, or only source of pride (I'm guilty of that), then failure might be extra hard to deal with. It's really important to understand that failure at something does not make you a failure. You are a whole person. One thing does not define you, may it be your math skills, cooking skills or archery skills (idk, it's what popped into my mind), you are more than just "good at" that one thing. And, besides, we can't always be at our best. And that's okay.

3. Imposter syndrome is a bitch

Oh, yeah, it's very real and can hit you without you even realizing it. When I started studying at my university, I felt like a fraud. I felt like everyone was smarter than me and that I didn't belong with them, even though I graduated with like an A- average. I still sometimes feel like I didn't deserve the grade I got, I felt that way last week when I got the results from an exam and had gotten the highest mark and some friends of mine didn't pass or barely passed. Imposter syndrome is ridiculous, I have some of the best results in my class and I still don't feel like I got where I am fairly. See how ridiculous that sound? Yeah, that's imposter syndrome, and it's a bitch. But guess what, you can be a bitch too.

4. You are probably pretty average

This is something I wish I would've been taught as a child. I was always told I was "the best" at everything related to intelligence and school and it was true (no, I'm not trying to sound obnoxious), I was the best at pretty much everything in school. It wasn't really until high school that I got "competition", as you might say. And by this point my own percieved value as a person was deeply connected to how well I could perform academically, and anything below "the best" just wasn't quite good enough. Fact of the matter is, I'm fairly average. I'm better at certain things, but not all of the things. And just statistically speaking, you are probably pretty average at most things. And there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not saying don't praise your child, you just don't want them to feel like they are or have to be the best at everything.

5. Maths ain't everything

There are plenty of other ways to be smart. I know that it's easy to get sucked into the idea that "smart people are people who are great at math", but that's just one way to be smart, especially in school. I mean, when my performance went down a during my last year of math in school I was getting really concerned that I was no longer smart enough. But fact of the matter is, there are plenty of brilliant people who suck at math.

6. You don't have to be on top

Even if you feel like you cannot be anything less that number one or perform at your very best. It's okay. It doesn't really matter that much in the long run. And we all have our ups and downs.

7. You'll figure it out

This is lowkey my life motto. Where I'm from it's tradition when you graduate to ride on the back of a dump truck around town to the applause of the townsfolk with your whole class while drinking, dancing and singing (yeah I just realized how weird that must sound from an outsider perspective), and on the side of the truck you put up a bedsheet that you've painted something on. Ours had our class motto that we used for the last 2 years (translated): "It figured itself out". And so far, every step of the way, it has. You'll figure it out, too.

[novasartcave]

Hi! I know I haven’t posted in ages but I’m gonna try to post more again I’ve just had like zero motivation sorry. Anyways I have a little tip for all my perfectionists out there! I know I tend to take ages to draw something cus I want it to be just right and I struggle with accepting I’m bad at stuff in general so I’ve decided to just Google something, look at a photo of it and draw it nothing other than a pencil and paper allowed not even a rubber/eraser and also look up an image and draw it as badly as posible im calling it ‘learning to fail’ anyways here is my washing machine drawing that I tried to learn to fail with

It really sucks and that’s okay. It’s okay to suck sometimes or even lots times

[geektasticjustine]

Learning to Fail and Other Rude Awakenings

I don’t like to brag, but I’m really good at NaNoWriMo-ing. Like, really good. I have participated in many NaNos since 2012, and I have always completed my goal of writing 50,000 words in one month…

Today on my writing blog, I’m ushering in the fall by talking about my summer spent learning to fail.

[brucestambaughsblog]

What the Olympic athletes can teach us

What the Olympic athletes can teach us

By Bruce Stambaugh

My wife and I love watching the Winter Olympics on television.

We wonder wide-eyed at the participants bouncing down the mogul runs, throwing in a couple of showy back-flip jumps before zipping across the finish line. I’m always amazed that the skiers and snowboarders have any teeth left as they broadly grin at the in-your-face TV cameras.

Gold medal by Charles Deluvio.We gasp…

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[rar-needlefelt]

(Originally posted on my Patreon)

Learning new skills is important - not only for artists but for people in general. On my docket for artistic cross-training I'm learning to throw on the wheel.

Another important thing is learning how to fail. Failure is actually a good thing! When you fail at something, you learn what not to do in the future. So here is my proud failure of the day: a little tiny cup that got way too wet and started to slump over.

I failed, recognized my mistake, and managed to keep this little guy together and not overwork him so at least I didn't fail too hard. Next time, I know what not to do, and that's very important.

[corsairsjournal]