Monday, November 9, 2009




Cairo, the 9th November, 2009

“The importance of a MISTAKE”

Lately I’ve been realizing that I, like billions of other human beings spread all over the world in between distinct cultures, have been educated to fear MAKING MISTAKES.
The educational system in Egypt is still a great example of how to destroy human beings ability to freely create and think for themselves but Egypt is not the only country where this happens.

Memorize the Holly Books, instead of UNDERSTANDING them.
Know all dates and numbers by heart and don’t bother to grasp their importance and actual use in life.
Practice enough in every subject of knowledge in order to make the less mistakes possible. Being “wrong” or daring to make mistakes are luxuries our “modern” societies cannot offer us.

The great spanish painter Picasso used to say that all children are born artists and the difficulty was in remaining one as they grew up. According to him, children loose that quality while growing up and receiving all the contents, rules and limitations adults have also assimilated themselves. The human brain can be molded like mud. It's a miracle and an also scary possibility!
Societies have grown towards the brain, the rational part of the brain whereas Creativity and our BODY has left as a subject apart from the main locomotive that keeps the world moving.

Our fearlessness and courage to do something from our guts has been replaced by a hunger for approval and assured applause and we’ve been turned into disembodied analytical machines.
Very little should be risked and making MISTAKES seems to be domain of the stupid and, let’s face it, no one wants to be considered “stupid”.

I’ve just watched an incredible video about Education and Creativity and the way children’s imagination and will to take risks is assassinated by teachers and parents who just want them to “behave”, say and do “correct” stuff.
In this video, there is the following short story:

“A little girl was making a drawing in a blank sheet of paper and her father asked her what she was drawing.
She answered:
- Jesus. I am drawing Jesus Christ.
-But no one knows how Jesus Christ looks like. – shot back her well intentioned father.
-Well, now they will. “

This story is delicious and it gives me such a grip to even think about it!
Although I like to think of myself as a brave kind of crazy free artist (always doing what’s in my heart) , I admit am afraid of doing mistakes too. Hell, I am!
I stop myself from going ahead with certain projects and creations because I fear no one will understand it, appreciate it. Maybe it will be, God forbid, a MISTAKE!
When I was studying to be an actress, I remember my teachers telling us to experiment and do ALL the MISTAKES we could while on the school because that would be a luxury we wouldn’t find when we launched ourselves into the professional market.

“Do mistakes while you can. Do it now because once you’re out there, no one will allow you to do it.”
Waw… there’s something to think about and something to CHANGE.

No comments: