On Discouraging Words

"What you have made is not good. Therefore you should not have tried that."

Sometimes people say or imply this kind of thing to me. I have decided not to heed it because experimenting is a valid way to learn something. If I wanted to learn how to work with vinyl tarps, well, there's not a whole lot of instruction books out there. How else did those other authorities get their knowledge but by trial and error? Why can't a person make themself their own authority?

Someone said that you are going to be making a lot of crap before you start making things that are worthwhile. I wish I could remember the source of this quote because it is so very true. The key for me is to get used to that kind of down feeling from an unsuccessful experiment, but not to let it become a source of self-condemnation. Instead, view it as valid experimental results.

Here's a selection of items from my experiment pile. Some worked, some did not. It was all time well spent.

Update: here's one source of the quote: "Often you won't be able to sell what you make -- it's the same with all crafting professions, you have to make a lot of crap before you get to the good stuff." -Patrick Moody.