“. . .life is not about not being messy but about being creative with the messes we have;” Curt Thompson

We love this reminder that messes can’t be avoided; in fact they are often the germ of creativity.  None of us can live a life without encountering some messes, and how boring would life be if we did? If we never hit the bumps along the way, what would we have missed?

Covid has been a big bump in the road of everyone’s life and has brought much pain, loss and disappointment. It has also provided an opportunity to shift our perspective, about what is important, and much of what we took for granted, like the ability to spend time together face to face.

Yet we spend a lot of energy fretting about the messes in our life, trying to help our children avoid any mistakes.  I don’t know about you, but I learn more from my mistakes than the things that come easily.  And yes, I try to avoid messes too.  But when we find we are in a mess rather than beating ourselves up, or blaming whoever is at hand, we can strive to find new or different solutions.

How many inventions grew out of mistakes? Did you know that the glue on “post it notes” was the outcome of trying to find a super strong glue for paper?

We are just here to remind you that messes are inevitable and instead of shaming ourselves (or others) for mistakes, (and/ or messes) we can see them as opportunities to learn, to be creative, and to see the world differently.  Being able to shift our perspectives like this gives us resiliency.  Modeling this for our kids gives them resiliency as well.

Rather than getting stuck in a problem, it can spur us to look for solutions, to broaden our perspectives about how things “should” be to include how they are in this moment.  The ability to meet the messy moment is where our character shines through. 

So not that we look to create messes, but we are better served when we can embrace them and move forward.