Patty Mayeux Blog

I made a mistake while writing recently. Let’s face it, mistakes abound while in the creative frenzy, when the pure joy of tapping on keys ushers in that flow zone. No problem, though, since a press of two buttons and presto, change-o, it is undone. Undo. What a perfect invention. I cringe at the memory of handing in college papers damp and smudged with liquid white-out. What a messy way to put thoughts on the page. How simple to race ahead while the fire is ablaze, knowing any errant cooling embers can be corrected. But that same day I cut, pasted into a new document, exited and called it good, only to return to a blank page. Arghh! Thankfully, all was not lost, the words were elsewhere, hiding exactly where I’d placed them for safekeeping. But oh, the panic, the agony, the cussing, in that moment. 

There is no undo button in life. Maybe we can avoid mistakes if we are so careful as to render our actions ineffective or unproductive. Better to live, do, goof up, learn, begin again, and move on. Mistakes happen, especially in the creative channel of this messy life. What will yours teach you?