changing | Join Us Down The Illness Rabbit Hole

One of the things that the human race is scared of the most in their time on the planet is failure. This is a wholly justified feeling, as failure in certain things can feel absolutely devastating in our lives, especially if we’ve poured our blood, sweat and tears into something, only to find it in pieces on the ground when the day is done.

Failure is always a large and looming monster, especially if you are like myself and are of a creative persuasion. Failure in music, writing, poetry, painting, etc always seems to loom three steps behind us at all times. But as scary as those long shadows may be, many times we find our worries and fears about failure were transient. But still, the shadow follows us.

But five of the best words we could hear as people are: Failure is always an option.

Failure.

Is.

ALWAYS.

An.

Option.

I firmly believe that, while failure is a scary prospect in our lives, the presence of it is actually a good thing for us, as creatives and just as everyday people. And when I say this, I am NOT saying to root your expectations for a project or a relationship or a move or ANYTHING in failure, but rather to use the specter of failure to your advantage. Everyone who’s anyone has failed in their respective field many times, but in many cases, they did not become myopic after these. The failures they experienced instead only poured kerosene on the fire lit beneath them, and pushed them to grow, get better and move past what they had negatively experienced.

While I cannot speak for everyone and how they perceive failure in their own lives, I am of the belief that, when we completely remove the chance of failure in anything that we do, our work or craft will suffer. If we take a mental high-ground in our work and remove the option of failure and do nothing to keep the fire lit beneath us, we will become prone to indolence in our field, and any new ideas will be poisoned by the lack of failure. We will become creative sybarites, content to sit on our dead centers and become fat and lazy off of pleasure. Instead of neutering the chance of failure in our lives, we can instead leverage this idea of failure for our betterment, and to get a better head-start on any new project or idea we have.

As creatives and just as people in general, our lives are a constant and ever-evolving series of stratagems and gameplans for when those failures or setbacks manifest. Success and purpose equals pleasure in anything we do, and to wave the white flag of surrender and toss in the towel is tantamount to creative suicide, and starving ourselves of what every fiber of our being really desires. We must learn how to balance our reactions to failures and successes equally, so one reaction doesn’t get overtaken by the other, and sets us down a potentially dark path. While it’s human nature to mourn some on the loss of an opportunity, we must remember: For every door that closes, another will open. We must keep this mindset by our sides, if we are to continue to grow, change and evolve into the person we want to be!

I hope this blog finds you well, and in the comments, talk about a time where you leveraged failure into something that ultimately benefitted you or got you ahead in a facet of your life!

As always, take care, much love and may God richly bless,

-Jon

As may be the case with some of you reading this blog post today, I am a sucker for the past, the way things used to be. Many nights, I find myself drifting off to sleep listening to old radio airchecks, or an album from decades ago, or even episodes of old dramas from an era gone by. To say nothing of the old sports highlights I cherish, the various pieces of memorabilia from the past I have collected, the classic cars I gawk at when I see them, and the beautiful sound of old guitars. Ditto for friendships, relationships, talks had in the past, some with complete strangers. The reality of the past is a safety blanket, and can be very useful in moderation. But as quickly as those warm, nostalgic feelings settle in over me, a cold chill flashes up my spine and puts the freeze on my mind. And riding on the frosty wave is a realization:

The reality we know no longer exists.

In the hustle and bustle of living in today’s realm, it is awfully tempting to pull off the path and look back. It’s so easy to take a turn down Memory Lane and reminisce about the way things used to be. But if you’re not careful, especially if you are an empath, you can quickly find yourself entangled in and being choked by the vines of yesterday. We will always savor a fragrance, a kiss, a hug, a touch, or sweet conversation. We will always cling to the memories of that one house or apartment, the way the light shone through the trees in a friend’s backyard, long and aimless road trips under the stars, even the sound of a new-strung guitar or the first taste of wine. Memories can be boons, but they can also be banes in our lives, hassling us, making us yearn for a situation or environment, friendship or relationship we’ve since grown out of, but still one we feel comfortable in, if for no other reason than it’s all that we knew at the time.

In my case, I have many attachments to the past. Some of these are healthy and warming, such as memories of where I was for certain sports moments, my first time visiting places, the first time I wrote a song on the guitar, etc. But still, there remains many attachments to the past that drain me and serve me no purpose other than to weight me down, such as seeing friends and loved ones suffering, thoughts of romantic relationships that never played out or blew up in my face, finding things out about friends and partners you once held close to you and in high regard, missed opportunities, no matter how small or large they may be. As much as the past comforts me, it also haunts me with its ragged whispers and icy fingers at times.

While I cannot claim to have an end-all-be-all solution to breaking those attachments and moving on, some of the things I have tried includes talking it out to someone, whether it be to a therapist, close friends, etc. Better still, if you are attached to someone from your past or even someone in your present, talk it out with them. Being honest with them and about how you are feeling can be as rewarding and healing as being honest with your own self in regard to the situation. Additionally, expunge the bad, dark memories from your mind about someone or a past situation or environment. If these revolve around a friend, lover or family member, remember the bright times you had with them, the laughs and smiles you shared, the places you went, and the time well spent. If they revolve around a situation or environment you left, turn those feelings into congratulations to yourself, for escaping that place and landing yourself in a new place that encourages your growth, healing and prosperity.

I hope this blog finds you well, and in the comments on this blog, feel free to share tips or tricks you have at dissolving attachments and adapting to the reality/realities of today!

As always, take care, much love and may God richly bless!

-Jon

Just Another Badass Warrior