He who would search for pearls, must dive below.
~John Dryden
Finishing off National Poetry Month with a little more about mistakes, in honor of IMPERFECT.
Did you know that there are museums and libraries dedicated to mistakes? There's the Library of Mistakes in Edinburgh, which is a "comprehensive collection of books and other materials related to business and finance and our failure to learn the lessons of the past." Their motto is "Changing the world one mistake at a time." On the Library of Mistakes blog, posts are charmingly addressed to "my fellow errorists."
And now for The Museum of Failure:
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Edgar Guest was a big believer in the sentiment behind the Japanese expression "Fall down seven times, stand up eight." An excerpt from Defeat by Edgar Guest:
No one is beat till he quits,
No one is through till he stops,
No matter how hard Failure hits,
No matter how often he drops,
A fellow's not down till he lies
In the dust and refuses to rise.
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Here's a poem by Emily Dickinson about a situation where you really don't want to be making mistakes:
Surgeons must be very careful
When they take the knife!
Underneath their fine incisions
Stirs the Culprit—Life!
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Live Your Poem has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Irene!
Don't forget to drop me a line or leave a comment about winning a kintsugi kit (gold or silver) if you haven't already!
19 comments:
Love "errorists"! And a Library of Mistakes is incredible. Fun video!
My daughter works at our Museum of Contemporary Art as their program director, & in that she supports a teen group that work through different art challenges, are interns, some go on to smaller paying work, etc. Among all that she does, she talks about how much the group is so inspiring. They call it the "failure lab", ready to make many mistakes so they can learn and do art! I'll share your poems and about the wonderful "Library of Mistakes" with her. They will all love it! Thanks, Tabatha.
So much fun here Tabatha! I love the Museum of Failure, and I agree with Emily Dickinson about the surgeons! Thanks, and Many thanks for your terrific "Imperfect" book–Its gorgeous, rich and filled with treasures!
Thanks for another fun post about mistakes! I can't wait to hold the anthology in my hot little hands!
I love the Museum of Failure! I'm going to try to find a way to share this with my kids (have to mute certain sections out for sixth grade consumption!).
So interesting to hear about the Museum of Failure and Library of Mistakes. Love your Guest excerpt and Emily poem (shudder!). :)
I love the anthology! Heidi's decoffinated was hilarious. As were Donna's Miss Step. I haven't read all of the poems yet, but I am looking forward to it. I love being a fellow errorists. The Scots are very funny.
I had no idea that there were museums for mistakes, errors and failures! I love it! It reminds me of Georgia Bragg's collection HOW THEY FLOPPED. Sometimes we can thank those mistakes that lead to discovery!
Wow, who knew?! Of course TABATHA knew. Highlight of my week was receiving IMPERFECT in the mail... so many congratulations Tabatha! Thank you for being beautiful you! xo
I love this idea for a museum! Many congratulations on your new book. I'm looking forward to reading it :)
I want to visit this museum! It sounds so freeing and fun. I have ordered my copy of IMPERFECT. It should come sometime this week! I can't wait to share it with my seventh graders!
The Emily Dickinson poem reminds me of Michael Salcman's poem "The Enemy of Good Is Better." He's a neurosurgeon and the poem speaks to the damage perfectionism can do.
Dear Chief Errorist,
Thank you for unleashing so much failure into our daily lives. Road trip to Hollywood, the capital, perhaps, of extravagant failure?
Love,
Heidi the Imperfect
LOL! I had no idea there was a library of mistakes. As a librarian, that's a position I would find fascinating! Well, and living in Edinburgh sound grand too. I'm really enjoying the layers and layers of meaning you have brought to the idea of mistakes and the creative creations that have come out of it. You inspire me! And, that is not in any way shape or form a mistake.
Every part of this celebration of mistakes is such a gift to the world. It is a forgiveness. A sigh of relief. The courage to carry on.
Oh, my gosh, I love the idea of a museum of failure!
I'm also reminded of one of our favorite non-fiction books -- when my girls were young, they really enjoyed "Mistakes That Worked." So much fun.
And even more fun: my copy of Imperfect is on its way to me! Can't wait!
Thank you, Robyn, for sharing the Library of Mistakes & The Museum of Failure. It's comforting to think of our "fellow errorists" out there, never letting a little thing like a mistake stop them from carrying on!
OH, my badness, wrongness, fixit-tness + mistakemess. LOVE this post!!!
Love the poem and the post. I wany to visit this museum.
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