GET MESSY!
The Not-So-Subtle Art of Making a Mess
Go ahead. Make a mess.
A BIG mess. A SMALL mess. An ACCIDENTAL mess. A PURPOSEFUL mess.
I’m a naturally messy person. When I cook it looks the refrigerator exploded.
When I paint I get more paint on myself than the walls.
I often find myself so focused on what I’m doing that I leave a trail of messes wherever I go.
But while I may have questioned their usefulness at times in my life…
I have grown to love my messes and regularly use them as the springboard to imagination!
Growing up I was always encouraged to make a mess.
And, believe me, I made my share of messes. Very early in my life my family learned that applesauce became an adhesive if left unattended for too long and, yes, indeed, there is such thing as “too much frosting”.
As three-year-olds, I think we’re all natural messmakers. Exploring the world with our whole body. And yet, as fun as messes are to make, somewhere along the process of growing up, we start to feel like we’re not supposed to make them. We start holding ourselves back.
We start to experience the fear of making a MISTAKE. Of doing it wrong. Or kind of wrong. Of doing it DIFFERENTLY from everybody else. Or of REVEALING TOO MUCH of ourselves in the process. Paralyzed by trying to get it right.
So the next time perfectionism starts getting in the way of your creative process, I recommend starting with a messy surface and seeing where it leads you.
Splatter a piece of cardboard with paint. Stomp all over your canvas with muddy boots. Use your mixing palatte as sketchbook. Scribble and smear to your heart’s content.
And remember: making a mess is just the beginning.
START by diving into the mess and discovering whatever you can find. Don’t plan it out. Just start making…
The next time you’re feeling stuck, do yourself a favor and make a mess. Make 2. Or 3. Make 10! Make 10,000 messes.
Because once you stop worry about what’s RIGHT or what’s WRONG, what’s UGLY or what’s PRETTY. Once you start embracing your messes…
…you just might accidentally stumble across something wonderful in the process.