the FALLIBILITY attached to the REALITY of being HUMAN Part 2

“Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to error that counts.” Nikki Giovanni

So! The founder of Blue Balloon Books and my incredible editor and I put our heads together to try to decide upon the best solution to the dilemma of a typographical error in my picture book, THE MOLLYS B. About a third of the original print run had already been sold since it launched in early April. Some of those books were sold by me at my book launch, so I would be able to track them down. Some of the books that were ordered by friends from book outlets I would also be able to track down. Unfortunately, some are lost to the wind. We decided to pull half of the total printed and return them to pulp, leaving a manageable amount in the warehouse that could be salvaged with a specially designed sticker to be placed over the error. All in all, not a bad solution.

But let’s talk about these things called “mistakes” that none of us like to make. Despite the scientific data that tells us making mistakes is part of the learning process, we humans just hate to be wrong. Why is that? There is so much to be gained from making mistakes; why do we view them so negatively? Well, I’ve done a little research, and it appears that the ego, that defender of one’s sense of self, is to be blamed. Like standing on sandy soil, making mistakes creates imbalance to our perceived notion of ourselves with the result that we’re left to feel insecure, regretful, and guilty. No one’s going to buy a lottery ticket for that!

What makes this particular mistake excessively unattractive is that I have been accused of possessing unhealthy proportions of perfectionism. Having spent most of my life chained to this mindset, I’ve recognized in recent years that this positioning was doing more harm than good to my mental health. Consequently, I have been attempting to tame this personality characteristic into a more manageable approach to life. It’s been tough! I really do like “things” to be correct and tidy - absent of flaws.

Photo Credit: J. Howeth

So this is the ideal chance for me to practice my newly established philosophy. Instead of wasting my energy examining the “why and how” this error got away from me, I’m choosing to ponder the ways I can exploit it, and with this decision, the most magical thing happened. Once I decided to withdraw its energy, the consequence of this mistake became less demoralizing and the mistake itself now seems actually comical. No surprise here, right? I’ve always suspected the universe likes to play tricks on us and pull that rug of hubris right out from beneath our feet.

Consequently, this “comedy of errors” has been an extraordinary learning experience for me – accepting that a mistake has been made, figuring out a solution, implementing it, and then letting it go. There was a time in my life when I wouldn’t have been able to do this, so this feels like a victory. And I’m oddly serene.

Writers are always being warned about becoming precious with their words. This incident for me is very much the same thing. I could become hyper-focused on the mistake, precious about it, and let this unfortunate incident completely unseat me. I could continue to let it tarnish my delight in seeing my book in children’s hands. And I could forever be apologizing for the error. But I’m choosing to not do any of that. Because it’s just not that important. And life goes on.

If you’re interested in reading more about the subject of making mistakes, check out this article: Five Ways to Drop Your Ego and Get Stuff Done.