We all fear the unknown or the need to change… those are things we have to conquer. But the fear of being wrong is different. I like building wooden furniture and every summer when I’m in the Adirondacks I find a project: I study the idea, look up stuff on the Internet, and carefully plan the pieces and cuts. But I inevitably make mistakes. It’s like putting together something you get from Ikea: they are very meticulous with their instructions and drawings but inevitably leave out some key detail that, if you’re not careful, leaves you with an unfinished side facing out. Like most, I hate it when that happens, but surprisingly, I calmly take it apart, and redo it with my new-found attention to that detail. In the end, I love those kinds of projects because the finished product is usually pretty cool. And cumulatively, they have trained me to live a creative life and lose the fear of being wrong. That’s a good lesson to learn today.
Joseph Chilton Pearce (1926 – 2016): American author of books on human development and child development
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