I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.
Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new
things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your
world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly,
you're Doing Something.
So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New
Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made
before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it
isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.
Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it.
Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”
Neil Gaiman

Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films.  When I read this quote I initially thought it a bit strange but then the more I let it marinate in my heart the more I liked it.  God is so tolerant of our humanity and we, on the other hand, tend so often to demand perfection from ourselves.  If incarnation does anything for us, it is to help us accept our humanity.  God chose to be human in Jesus and, in that act, God shows us our precious our humanity is.  One look at the saints and we learn that making mistakes is normal even for those we set apart as models of the Christian life.

I tend to have some techy expertise and, often people ask me if I took classes and I say no but I should say YES I learned all I know through the school of mistakes.  It was through my mistakes that I learned all that I know.  For me now, every mistake I make on the computer is a challenge to learn something new and, in the process, to be able to help someone else who has made the same mistake.  I am also very willing to try new things because I know that I will always learn something new if I'm willing to make a few mistakes on the initial try.

One would think that I could transfer that same method of learning into my everyday life but I haven’t.  And yet, when I really think about it, I have learned my most profound lessons in life by my mistakes and I've made and continue to make quite a few.  I also have had a sense of adventure which gave me a willingness to try new things even if I'm clumsy in the beginning.   But probably my best example would be in relationships.  Each individual is a unique gift and, with time and mistakes, we learn the best way to love one another.  Often the people we love the most are the ones we make the most mistakes with in our relationships and yet, through those mistakes, we learn unique aspects of one another that often help us love them even more, especially the realization that they keep loving us even in our “humanness”.  Yes mistakes are a part of humanity and, in the end, they often help us as we grow in comfort with ourselves and others.

There is a fair amount of research that teaches us that we learn more about things for which we initially make incorrect predictions than for things for which our initial predictions are correct. The element of surprise in discovering we are wrong is conducive to learning.  The research of Professor Andy Wills of the University of Exeter takes this research a step further and established just how quickly the brain works to help us avoid repeating errors. By monitoring activity in the brain as it occurs, he and his colleagues were able to identify the moment at which this mechanism kicks in.  Monitoring individuals with electrophysiological recording by 58 electrodes placed on their scalp in computer simulations, the researchers identified activity in the lower temporal region of the brain, the area closest to the temples. This activity occurred almost immediately after the person was presented with the visual object that had previously made them make an error, and before there was time for conscious consideration.  How amazing is that?  So, with Neil Gaiman I hope that, in this year to come, you make mistakes.

(Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070702084247.htm)

If you like this blog please visit the blog area on our Franciscan Spiritual Center website.  I make many more entries at that site.  May your New Year be filled with peace and joy!