What’s the best mistake you’ve ever made?

There’s a naïve confidence that’s fleeting. It can only exist when we have yet to discover how hard something actually is to do.

“My kid could do that.” – Anonymous

It’s the kind of confidence that might be found in a person passing by a bold, abstract by Franz Kline and seeing only a few brush strokes and a big price tag. They imagine it took five minutes and zero skill and don’t hesitate to say as much. A bit of paint splattered here, a color or two dragged there. Easy.

Maybe it was. For Franz.

.

At the studio

Kids can dive in headfirst, trust their instincts, and believe they are enough. Their joy is unfiltered. They’ve yet to wrestle with the years of trial, error, and risk that help simplicity to land. But what looks simple is rarely so. That effortless stroke on the canvas? It’s born from the chaos of countless others that didn’t work.

I wish it were as easy as it can sometimes look. Yesterday I started off with spontaneous brush strokes only to watch helplessly as they devolved, suffocating under their own corrections. I packed up and went home.

My daughter was home too.  Smiling and drawing feverishly. Her shapes wobbled; her colors clashed. And it was perfect.

Watching her drawing reminded me of something I’d misplaced: the best art isn’t always about control. It’s about risk. It’s about playing with an idea, taking it too far, and being okay with what happens next. It’s about trusting that what you make, even when it gets overworked, or comes up short, is worth the effort.

So the next time someone thinks their kid could do it, maybe they can take it a step further and hand them a brush. See what happens. Maybe that kid will create something new and unexpected. Or maybe they’ll rediscover how much fun it is to try.

When was the last time you painted with no expectations?

Can you find the joy in trying?

What’s the best mistake you’ve ever made?