Today I wanted to talk to you about failure.
A few days ago, I filmed myself applying a finish to a wooden coaster that I had used a laser cutter to engrave one of my illustrations onto.
The results were not so great. It looked way worse than before. I wiped it all off, defeated.
I didn't want to waste the footage so I posted it anyways. No comments, no carefully researched hashtags. Labeled it "failure." I figured I didn't care about this turd.
Except, I woke up to this video having garnered more than double the views of my most-viewed video. And more than quadruple the view count I normally get.
I was thinking it was trash...but it turned out to be treasure.
I remembered that lesson again later on, when I stumbled onto the account of an amazing animator. She'd been laid off from Dreamworks earlier this year because of the instability of the industry. Her story of using her failure as inspiration to branch out in a new direction with her art touched me...and it touched a lot of other people too, going off the millions of views of her content.
So whatever feels like failure today...remember that it might just be the start of the story of how you became a badass _____ (fill in the blank).
And just in case you need to hear this...
You are going to be okay. There are no good or bad decisions or actions...only what felt accessible to you at the time. You know what your goals are...and minor setbacks cannot stop you. You can and are already achieving everything you want in life. I believe in you.
Peace, love, and brownies,
Cathy