It is possible I am setting myself up to be pistol whipped by embarras – Philip Charles Williams

It is possible I am setting myself up to be pistol whipped by embarrassment and failure

by Philip Williams on May 10, 2021

This phrase kept coming to me as I ruminated over the various ways I would fail when I started to put myself out in the universe, and the more I said it, the calmer (counter-intuitively) it made me feel.

I noticed that people do not like to discuss failure (and certainly not related to commerce), and if they happen to mention it it's usually in the context of 'Failure is not an option'.  But failure is most definitely an option, and to deny it is almost like inviting it.  I say this only because of this phrase that kept coming to me...'It is possible I am setting myself up...' made me keep the idea of failure front and center in my mind's eye so I would never forget it, and also implicitly to remind myself that if I do fail... it's okay.  As I tell my daughters, in art, there's no failure/mistakes.

That happens a lot with my work... a simple word or phrase that somehow unlocks creativity or ceases anxiety like a totem that scares away the evil spirits.

I'm looking forward to sharing my art (which I haven't really done in over 10 years) and hopefully start a conversation, build a community, get inspired and have a few laughs along the way.

1 comment
by Jake Wolf on March 12, 2024

Comment

LEAVE A COMMENT

Please note, comments must be approved before they are published


  • Close
  • BACK TO TOP