Welcome to the Art of Failure

Failure is scary.

Failure is bad.

Failure is not an option.

All things I have said to myself, but not everyone has that attitude towards failure.

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." - Thomas Edison

I have a fear of failure. I fear feeling like a failure. I fear seeing my failure. I fear not living up to my potential.

Our society has a love-hate relationship with failure. I have a love-hate relationship with failure.

On the one hand, I remember growing up in schools that emphasized the importance of excellence and achievement. Failing meant that I were falling behind, my grade point average was going to suffer, and I wasn't meeting expectations. I felt a lot of shame if I thought I was failing.

On the other, failure meant I found a way that didn't work or that I needed help or a new way of looking at a problem. Failure teaches acceptance and is a great motivator to try again. Learning how to handle failure at an early age helped with emotional maturity later in life.

Thomas Edison still failed 10,000 times while inventing the light bulb. He's just really good at dressing up that failure with different words that don't sound as negative.

I've been trying to sell my short stories and poetry lately. I haven't sold any yet and at times all of the rejections can get discouraging, but I keep trying. I want other people to enjoy reading what I write as much as I enjoy writing it.

But is success selling my work? Or is the act of writing success itself?

I don't know.

Measuring success now isn't the same as measuring success in school. Things are a lot more subjective and answers aren't necessarily right or wrong. I might have succeeded in one area and still feel like a failure in another.

I'm scared to fail, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't keep trying new things.

Short poem and art work...

This month I am challenging myself to write and post (on Twitter and/or Instagram) a poem each day in the month of April. For those of you who don't know, April is National Poetry Month. It's a personal challenge that doesn't cost me anything. The poems might not be the best or the most polished, but that's not the point.

And if I fail to write a poem for social media daily, oh well. I'll just have to try again next year.

If you enjoyed this post (or if it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Until next week!