Words to Live By

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, from his New Year's blog post 

If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you probably already know that I have a fondness for a good quote. These often become guideposts in my life, and this Neil Gaiman quote is one such marker. This man is wise. Really, really wise. It is rare for me to come across something he has written or said and not latch onto it. This New Year's wish really struck home for me. What a wonderful way to live 2012. So for the next 12 months, I am going to fearlessly make mistakes. Maybe this means my life will look a little bit messy to people on the outside. This most certainly goes against my perfectionist tendencies. But these are going to become some of the words I live by this year.