A Chance to Fail
 

As I mentioned elsewhere, I saw Mathew Bourne speak last night about creating Play without Words. In telling the story he mentioned that it was to be an experimental work, so that gave him a "chance to fail" – I just loved that statement and thought about how liberating that perspective could be.

So I thought I pose this questions – what might you attempt to do, if you were given the “chance to fail” i.e. there would be no negative consequence to the act, other than you might not succeed in your "experiment?"

I need to comtemplate this a bit for myself, but I know on the one side is feeding my wanderlust, that is to pick up and move to a foreign place, such as Paris, and see if I could actually live there in a comfortable fashion. Another part of me wonders about the risks I might take in being more creative, such as taking a leave of absence to write a novel - hmmm maybe in Paris...

But what might you try if failure was okay?

Eventually compiling some finished work together and sending it to publishers, is the first thing that comes to mind.

Writing a play (short one) and having it performed at my father’s theater company.

Marriage. I say I don't want it, but I'm sometimes lying. I just feel fairly certain that I'll be a failure at it, because I'm selfish and need lots of time to myself, and don't always want to deal with another person's immediate presence, and don’t like having to consider another person’s feelings before my own *all* of the time. I’ve rarely felt a person’s worth that kind of bother, actually. The compromise that comes with uniting your life so completely with another person’s terrifies me, and yet the concept is kind of beautiful. I like covenants.

Living someplace rural, but nearing a small town.

Hmm. Cool thread.

I almost wrote "living in the big city" but seriously, I don't need a chance at New York apartment life to know that I would hate it. Same goes for living on a farm or in a small town.

Like Eliza - Taking a shot at getting published. But the thing is, I already have the situation where if I fail, it's ok (at least financially - dealing with a shattered ego is something else entirely). Unless it takes money to get published....does it?

Major in Philosophy, perhaps? Or some other totally not applicable to my career major.

Failure is OK.

I mean, it's never fun. But I moved to California with no job, no friends or family nearby, and no home. I did that with the possibility of failure in mind. I wouldn't say that I've found success in a career to which I aspire, but I have found happiness here.

I'd also agree that I'd like to get my stuff sent off to a publisher. Particularly Yoga for Fat Girls, much of which is off the ground, but much of which I'm a little too scared to share so far.

I'd like to direct again. I have the degree. I have the professional and educational experience. I have to have the trust in myself to come back to it, and the commitment to the time involved.

Write that novel I've been waiting to be inspired to write for a few decades.

Actually, I don't so much need a chance to fail as I need a chance to attempt. (Read: SugarDaddy support while I indulge my habit of writing 2 pages per day while livin' large and not working a 9to5.)

If we all quit writing here and wrote pages instead, we'd each have about 10 novels to our names by now.

Run for a political office. Hey, I've got a poli sci degree may as well do something with it!

1) Make the jump into technical marketing (as opposed to the technical technicaling that I do now). I may yet do it, though unlikely in an no-consequences environment.

2) See this thread

I heartily agree - but I find this notion, of being given a chance to fail such a charming little though experiment that, at least for me, makes me think about what I stop myself from doing for fear of failure - hopefully this might even encourage me to take some of those risks.

I think it reveals what's already in your power to do, as opposed to fantasizing about that Sugar Daddy - which is perhaps the subject of another thread ;)

Livin it bro, at least in my opinion....I have already failed many small failures at marketing myself, almost to the point of being evicted. If I hadn't found solutions to coming up with money, I would be sleeping on someones couch right now. I don't think I would have learned as much as I had if I had not failed. And in my opinion, the only time I will fail, is when I give up.

If there were no other negative consequences aside from failure itself, no worries about finances, etc...

I'd head straight for the bright lights of Broadway with my tap shoes in tow.

I do intend to run for President, though. Or something like that. Some day you'll see me on the news and say "Hey! I remember that picture of her in the Toad car!"

I wanted to mention this earlier, but I was at the tail end of my workday, and figured I could wait until I got home. So I'm home.

The other afternoon, I was listening to KCRW, and on All Things Considered, I heard about this show in New York City, called "The Rejection Show." My internet is being spotty tonight, and I can't seem to get it to work hard enough to load anything from google :( (even this page hasn't fully loaded)

Anyhow, this thing is called the Rejection Show (maybe someone else can find it and link about it), and it allows artists the chance to show their rejected works. Unused scripts, unpublished drawings for newspapers and magazines. Rejected.

They are shown as works of art that have already failed. People go there knowing they're viewing loser works. And, in a turn of events, some even get picked up by people seeing the show.

One artist, and if I could bring up the damn page, I'd tell you his name, anyhow...

He's a well-known cartoonist, and his work is published by the New Yorker, and a number of other places, and he says that to the New Yorker, each week, he submits 10 cartoons. He feels lucky to have just 1 of those ten chosen. He's been regularly featured for 17 years. So, add that up: 17 x 52 x 9 = 7956 rejections. And I'm sure that artist had more (damn internet.. I'm gonna try looking it up again to see if it works.. Hell,, I'll be lucky if this thing posts).

So in other words: Expect rejection. Move on, and become great...

(OK I'm gonna copy & paste this mofo -- here goes nothing for posting!)

Holy Crap, the internet worked!!

Hmm

But not enough for me to get any other pages to work for me... hmmm...

We're sorry. The internet you are trying to access is busy. Please try back again later.

I wonder if that New Yorker guy held onto cartoons and reused them 6 months later.

As Heidi said, it's ok to fail. My chance to fail is every time I wake up in the morning and surounds me constantly. For the most part it doesn't really affect me as much as it would others I think. I view failure in the same sence I do putting gas in my car. It's something that has to be done in order to get anywhere and sometimes as a cost you might not like so well.

What would be my top "failure" in the sence you say already occured. I've wanted to work in a certain "graphic" industry and the opportunity came to work for THE biggest in the world. You've all seen my jacket. I wasn't a high level person, I wasn't a huge influance in the company and I ended up failing because the industry sort of imploded, the company filed for Chapter 11 and I got laid off. It was a giant leap and I fell off the stool.

Since then, I failed with self-publishing, but I did it - no regrets. Then this new opportunity that I've been working at for the past couple of years was something I had to give up earlier last year, but the chance to reach for that similar goal came about and I went for it. Now, as of a few days ago, the company is closing up shop and the deal with the 2nd largest company (Think Dark Knight) has been canceled - it's over and I failed to make something of it to my satifaction. But, another opportunity has reared it's ugly head and I'm going to make another leap and probably I will fail again. Then maybe another path will appear and I will lunge at that.

But, "fantasy" wise, yeah, I would see me moving to New York and working my way into one of the top positions at the Big "M" and should I fail, there are a couple others in that city.

But NY is too far from Anahiem. ;)

P.S. And no, I'm not related to Matthew Bourne...

I have been given many, many chances to fail, and have failed brilliantly more times than I can count. But I loved every minute of it. Well, almost.

Failure can be an adventure. Or a state of mind. Or a great big safety net.

Failure keeps you sharp. And woefully aware. And there's a certain happiness and contentment that can only truly be experienced when one fails utterly and completely.

It can be bliss.

It all depends how you look at it.

I am actually facing something like this in the near future. I've always wanted to do a solo lounge act, playing Billy Joel, Elton John-type piano and vocal songs. It is something that I am looking forward to but also something that intimidates the hell out of me. I've been performing in front of people since I was about 8 years old (about 30 years) but, for the most part, it has always been with a group. I've done a few weddings as a solo act but never a full night of entertaining.

The scary part is not being able to judge how it will go over with people that I don't know. My friends all tell me that I should do it and that I'll do well at it but they like me already. :) I'm a much better keyboard player than vocalist and that is where the fear comes in. I love to sing and some people like my voice. Still, do I take the chance, bear my soul, and risk falling flat on my face?

So, in this case, there really is no negative consequence, other than not being asked to perform again and some heckling, I suppose. Still, as much as I want to take the chance and see what comes of it. I am apprehensive. I keep telling myself that I just need a bit more practice but the fact is, I have about 50 songs ready and I know them all about as well as I ever will. It's just a matter of getting over the fear and taking the next step. I basically need a good shove.

And the thing that keeps popping into my mind is opportunities of the past that I never took advantage of because I didn't feel I was good enough. There are some that I still kick myself for not taking the risk. I don't want to be thinking "what if" one day over something that I have relatively nothing to lose. The one thing that I do know is that every time I have taken a chance, I have felt that I grew as a person. I also know that the people that succeed are generally the ones that have failed many times and bounced back. I know all of this and yet, I still haven't made the commitment to move forward.

Interesting thing, fear of failure is.

Mine is a bit along the line of MBC's.

I have a music theory/composition degree. I went to school on a vocal scholarship. Would have rather it been basketball, but there are about a million 6' white boys better than I am. Wasn't as gifted there as I would have liked, but I coach HS ball now, so it's OK. Anyway....

I don't know if this is a regret about something I should have tried long ago or something I'd like to do now.

I'd go the vocal performance route now. I went to school with people that now perform on broadway or sing in NY City opera, and I miss the performance. I paid my living expenses in college doing musical theater and as a singing waiter, and I miss that. It kills me when I see people performing now in a few traveling shows I've seen here in Phoenix when (this is probably pretty arrogant) I know I was better than they were at one point. I'd love to have the chance to perform on a big stage again. Loved it in HS, loved it in college, and I am pretty sure I'd love it now.

I just didn't have the desire then to do the work for vocal performance and loved the mathematical aspects of theory and composition. Counterpoint was so much more fun than private voice lessons. But now.....I don't compose anything and couldn't spell a French 6th chord anymore (much less respell it to change keys), so I almost feel like I wasted my abilities and 4 years of school (with the exception of the degree). But performing.....miss it. Wish I could do it again.

I would love to go back to school to finish up my Art History studies and teach or curate. I miss the art world and I miss academia (even with all of the writing involved). But, that's a looooong haul and I have much more income potential with marketing or RE. So, I am wimping out.

I live with no regrets, I'll die with no regrets