And then, of course, there’s this. This grand, sweeping, marvelous magnificence of raw power and rumbling passion and crashing, curling waves that pound and push and pull (with equal parts grace and ferocity) on impossibly soft sand beneath never-ending cobalt skies ~ this incredible vastness where mermaids live and giant, finned beasts taunt sailors who chart their course by stars that shine from even more unfathomably large heavens above; all of this, too, will keep one humble.

You work. You love, and play, and learn. Laugh and cry. Scream out loud, shrivel into quiet corners. You try. You do your best, and wear your super-human-hero cape with pride. Even so, you always, always, at some point, find yourself inadequate. Or wrong. Or just unprepared. Because that’s the stuff of life ~ the mystery and the magic, the smooth, the bumpy, the “a-ha’s” and the “oh shit’s”.

We’re not meant to get it right all the time. It’s lovely when we do. It can feel ugly when we don’t. It’s exhausting and glorious (with equal parts grace and ferocity). No matter how high we climb the proverbial ladder, no matter how good, how brilliant, how well-intentioned ~ there will always be something to keep us humble. We’re just travelers, after all. All of us.

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Not surprisingly, Chris’s kids have grown up using handmade pots and cups, and one day Chris asked his youngest daughter what it’s like to use handmade pieces, and she said “Dad, I really like the mistakes”.

It’s that beautiful messiness of fine craftsmanship that creates something that’s one-of-a-kind and gloriously unpredictable. As in life, where we are so much more than a series of precise measurements; we are not exact templates. As in life, each cup holds a story, transferred from the hands that make it and then again transformed by the hands that hold and share it.

Our mistakes add interest, color, and emotion ~ whether in our craft, or in our life. I call them happy accidents, because nine times out of ten they lead to a new idea or thought or road one might not have travelled, and we’re made the richer.

This is one of Chris’s most touching video’s, imperfectly perfect, where his trademark honesty shines through. Enjoy!

(If you missed my introduction about Chris Staley, master potter, educator and Penn State Laureate 2012-2013, you can read that here.) 

The post Tuesdays with Chris: “Liking Mistakes” appeared first on saxtonstudio blog.