We all make mistakes, some of us more than others. And I don't know about you, but I tend to be on the side that makes quite a lot. However, I know that no matter what, I can always learn from anything and everything I do. Some mistakes create situations for the better, while others complicate life.
Scott Adams, the creator of the comic strip "Dilbert," once said, "Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." You're allowed to keep some mistakes. However, it's deciding which mistakes are the right ones to keep that proves difficult.
There are some that seem completely disastrous in the beginning, but show themselves to be completely beneficial with time. Running from and ignoring our mistakes is not the way to go about learning from them. I know this is all easier said than done — obviously — but take some time this week to look back on a mistake that proved itself advantageous after some time passed.
You might find that many of your past mistakes have established themselves as positive influences in your life now. While that should compel you to not simply create more mistakes in the future, it doesn't mean that it is a bad or dangerous thing. Instead of purposefully living recklessly, keep hope from now on that the mistakes that seem devastating today may show up as learning experiences and quite possibly beneficial circumstances for the future.
By separating the bad mistakes from the good ones in your past, you can better learn from both categories. Like Adams so eloquently put it, knowing that you're allowed to make mistakes permits you to be open to trying new things, to create new opportunities and to open your creative mind to new experiences.
In choosing positive mistakes that better yourself, you are not only being creative with your thoughts and actions, but you are furthering the artwork that makes up your life. Like an artist who uses paint as his medium and a canvas as his material, the mistakes you make form your medium that covers and defines your material we call life. The word ‘mistake' does not have to always carry a negative connotation. Rather, think of this word as the material that strings together both the positive and negative events of your life. Make life your masterpiece and don't hide from any of your mistakes.
— Chamberlain is a junior from Jasper, Ind., majoring in English literature and art history. features@thedepauw.com