Imaginate and Make Mistakes

“I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”  - Thomas Edison

Use of the imagination stimulates travel into a wilderness of mind and movement where connections and cross-overs exist.  Mistakes happen as one careens in search of mysteries.

Often a stumble on the path leads to a butterfly hidden in a tree's root system. Foraging into the density of undergrowth uncovers beetles and ladybugs.

Dragonflies chased with a camera might defeat a photographer. When a song sparrow's call excites, its wings move faster than the shutter on a cell phone.

Missed photographs do not discourage. Determination energizes the stalking mind and eye. 

A step forward. A head's turn. A sit and wait. All lead to success.

Photos that blur still provide clues and insights. Patience and perseverance outlast creatures' antics.

Forged with determination and patience, a photographer occasionally turns away in despair.  Then captures an osprey as it arrives with dinner and takes time to munch.

A true believer in failure as motivation, Thomas Edison welcomed mistakes and challenged rules. As a result he probed the unknown and experimented with the unseen. He recast the idea of failure as a learning opportunity. 

Edison claimed, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” 

With a diary that had over 5 million pages, Edison felt writing ideas expanded his creativity. This helped him discover an awareness of patterns in thinking and actions. He claimed he liked, "to find out what the world needs. Then I go ahead and try to invent it.”

Edison bragged, “I make more mistakes than anyone else I know, and sooner or later, I patent most of them.”  

If writers and photographers risk with mistakes, challenge rules and move beyond them, they can make discoveries about themselves and their art. What a way to applaud the fearless persistence, positivity and perspective that Thomas Edison maintained.

Edison's thoughts spark creativity, “There are no rules here — we’re trying to accomplish something.”  

Get Unhooked

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance." 

- Alan Watts

Pema Chödrön promotes shenpa, which is Tibetan for  “biting the hook” with our habitual reactions. Shenpa thrives on the insecurity of living in a world of constant change. 

Tibetans call shenpa, "that sticky feeling." We feel a tightening, a tensing, a sense of closing down. Then we experience a withdrawing. The tight feeling has the power to hook us into self-denigration, blame, anger, and jealousy. Emotions lead to words and actions that do not serve us well.


Chödrön writes, "When someone criticizes us, our work, or leaves us, we may bite the hook of grasping. When something unfair happens, we may bite the hook of rage. When we are disappointed, we may bite the hook of numbness." 


What would it look like not to bite the hook in an action of non-shenpa?




Chödrön's philosophy involves how to grow and learn from experiences. She advises not to waste time berating oneself for supposed sins. Learn and move on. 

If we cultivate clear sight, which Tibetan Buddhists call prajna, we view our life without deceiving ourselves. Once we observe the self clearly, we grow and gain strength for the next encounters. 

Consider how you talk to yourself concerning unhappiness. Do you malign and denigrate yourself to induce a wave of guilt that proves you are unworthy? 

"At moments like that, what is it you feel? It has a familiar taste in your mouth, it has a familiar smell. Once you begin to notice it, you feel like this experience has been happening forever," Chödrön says. She continues, "All we're trying to do is not to feel our uneasiness. But when we do this we never get to the root of practice. The root is experiencing the itch as well as the urge to scratch, and then not acting it out."

Learn to recognize when you get hooked in your experiences. Realize you have the wisdom to see your frustrations for what they are. 

The more you practice that realization the less control outside forces have on you. 

When negative feelings intrude, focus on the breath. Stay in the moment. Relinquish the need to react.

You'll benefit by not biting the hook. Feelings of freedom will take over. 

Activate with Verbs

Even though Shakespeare wrote "to be or not to be,"  active verbs to animate ideas. Verb variety engages the reader. Choreograph sentences. Make verbs dance and tumble.

It feels natural to write sentences with is, am, was, and were, and contractions such as that’s or there’s. On a subconscious level, we move into the “to be” groove. 

Just because a favorite writer does it, you don’t need to. 

Make friends with verbs and play.

Consider verbs the work horses of your sentences. These power ponies add description, details, and action. If you alter the structure of the sentence, you can eliminate the use of the ‘to be’ verb.”

To practice, return guilty sentences to: subject, verb, and object. At first the alteration in sentence structure will provoke frustration. Style becomes altered as a result of eliminating the “to be” verb. When you realize new possibilities, your attitude will change.

Relent and deconstruct sentences. Begin to realize that  verb awareness permits also a selection of stronger subjects with fewer adverbs and adjectives. Believe in the possibilities of metaphor.

Go through a piece of writing. Circle all “to be” verbs and notice if a habit rather than a choice has developed. With this focus on awareness and the process of verb choice, you learn more than the elimination of the “to be” verb. 

The hunt for muscular verbs will help you move away from overusing modifiers. Select subjects with vigor. 

When you read work aloud, see the difference in rhythm. With more practice, you will feel less irritation and restriction.

Activate your sentences into flight.