Artistic Mistakes

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If you were to enter my house you would undoubtedly be drawn to the writing on the wall. Sadly our house was painted white, which probably looks like the color of paper to my three year old and because of that our walls are full of pen and crayon markings. From the living room to our bedroom you can’t escape the color sketched on our dry wall.

In the beginning, I would rush over to my daughter in a fit of frustration and take her marker of choice away while scolding her. She’d cry for a few seconds and once I put my guard down she’d be at it again. It’s as if she has super powers because no matter where I put the pens and crayons she somehow gets to them.

So now after a year of frustration I’ve given up and as I look at her artwork I have begun to see the beauty of her relatively minor mistakes. It’s like I’m looking at a Rorschach test. One moment I see a flower the next it’s a bunny and who knows maybe she’ll one day become a famous artist and these walls will be worth something. Probably not but you can’t blame me for hoping.

While reflecting on her artwork I realized that life is kind of like her markings on the wall. In the beginning our mistakes (markings) feel like the end of the world. We are scolded for making mistakes and sometimes we start to believe if only we hadn’t made them our lives would be better. But would it really? Is it possible that like the markings on the wall our mistakes will become a work of art in our lives. That we’ll be better and more beautiful because of them. That maybe people will be drawn to us because of our markings. Because we are human.

So the next time you make a mistake think about the markings on my wall and ask yourself if the blemishes in your life could turn into a work of art one day. That instead of dwelling on your shortcomings and giving up on life you are able to look at them as stepping stones toward a more beautiful you. One that is an artistic mistake.