Now there’s a title. And for me it is an anthem to creativity. I think being creative is about being ready to try something new to see what comes from the effort. And that requires being not sure.
Now, as a little kid, being unsure is ok. Everything is new, is learning, is trying so being unsure is part of the gig.
However, somewhere along the way, we move to a place where we are sure. We master riding a bike, we master printing, we master, throwing a ball. We are sure of what we can do.
How do we make the leap from there, attaining mastery in some things, to being so uncomfortable with being unsure that we won’t try anything new. When does that happen?
I value the label of ‘life long learner’ because there is always so much to be curious about, to explore, to try. Even though I am unsure.
A friend’s daughter helped me launch my sailboat for the first time. Of course the docks around the launch point were full of people to watch. That’s just a rule when launching a boat. In face, I’m not sure it’s a launch if there isn’t peanut gallery. We managed to the get the boat of the trailer. But the engine did not want to start. No matter what I did.
Having said that, I had never started that engine before and I was going on what I thought needed to be done. Admitting that it wasn’t going to start, I asked my friends to bring their ski boat and tow me to the middle of the lake. I was sure I could sail it. I could figure out the motor later.
And so they did. And my friends’ daughter and I put up the sails and set the lines, and took the boat for a tour around the lake. Successfully. But the motor not starting niggled on me. She said prophetic words that sorted the day and that I use all the time now.
“First Times Suck.”
Truer words have never been said. And when you put them with being unsure with what you are doing, first times somehow become easier.
So now, when I doing something for the first time, I remember that first times suck and I can be easier on myself in what I am trying to do.
