When my own creative well is feeling depleted, I look to the wisdom of other artists to get me through.
Real talk: after a kitty health crisis last week* that was immediately followed by a simultaneously wonderful and intense business trip, I am most definitely feeling depleted. It’s hard to keep writing these letters right now, and my inner critic has Things To Say about that — mostly, it wants to tell me I’m failing.
Perhaps it’s an auspicious coincidence that I came across this interview with award-winning playwright Carlos Murillo today. Murillo has a wonderful perspective on failure, which he prefers to call “not success.”
Here’s my favorite part of the interview:
“Within each thing you’re creating, no matter how you feel like you’re failing within that particular exercise or that particular framework of what you’re working on…there’s something in there that’s opening something up in you.”
—Carlos Murillo, award-winning playwright
What if that thing you feel like you’re failing at is actually opening up something beautiful, precious, and essential to future you?
What if you aren’t failing at all?
*For those of you wondering, my sweet Stella girl is going to be okay. Thank you so much to everyone for your support and kind words. 😻
Calling failure “not success” made me smile remembering the staff reviews in my (very) old job that had us list our strengths and less strong strengths 😂
Failure as an opening. This I love and can see has been true in my life.