26 - celebrating failure



Something over this past semester and even extending prior to taking this class that I had failed several times at is writing “something”. I have always had a longing to write something that I was proud of that wasn’t a school assignment. For example, a novel, a short story or even a song (although I am not very musically gifted), but no matter how hard I try I fail to begin writing or I start and can’t live up to my own expectations so I stop. Now and then I will periodically try and go back to what I began writing and most of the time I can never bring myself to keep going with the same piece I had been working on.


I learned how much time and effort and skill it takes to truly write and create something that is not only received well by other people, but also yourself. I also learned that I hate sharing my work with other people, mostly because it isn't finished, but also because I care about it so much, it would be hard for me to accept the criticism that would be so personal.


Like many other people failure for me is hard and is often embarrassing because I hold myself to such a high standard, but as of more recently I have tried to embrace my failures and learn from them, or even just accept and adapt to criticism. It's undeniable that failure still sucks, but after this class I am a little more willing to take risk regarding my work or ideas. For my idea of the blade sharpener, I chose it because it was an idea that I thought up just for this class and I wasn’t that attached to it, but as time went on I did start to care more and more about it. Even though I cared about the idea more, I realized that the feedback (even the negative stuff) I was getting from people was more helpful than not.

Comments

  1. Janzen RichApril 17, 2020 at 4:31 PM

    Great post Marcus. This is a unique goal and one that really allows you to sprout your creativity. Writing is difficult for me as well and I can’t remember the last time I wrote something that wasn’t for a job or school. I agree that failure can be embarrassing but this class has shown that it sharpens your skills rather than dulls your ability to succeed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Janine SantiagoApril 17, 2020 at 6:05 PM

    Hi Marcus, great post! I related a lot to the things you were saying about failure. It might seem silly, but I suck at cooking. I always tell myself I am doing it wrong and give up before I have even started. Something I discovered was that if I just keep on trying, I can only get better and that is the mentality I keep when faced with other failures in life.

    ReplyDelete
  3. JakeApril 20, 2020 at 1:42 AM

    Hey Marcus,

    Great post! I can relate with a lot of the points that you mention. I've tried to write songs and stories as well and experienced massive amounts of discouragement due to not being able to think of the right vocabulary on the fly. It is a great thing that you decided to learn from your mistakes instead of letting them get the best of you.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

29a - venture concept 2

Image
Part I Opportunity: The opportunity I noticed was that I was tired of having to constantly use dull razors to shave, or be forced to go out and spend time and money buying new ones. My facial hair grows out fast and I like to stay relatively clean shaven, so repeatedly buying new razors is not really an option when you shave as much, and have as little money as I do. People who find themselves shaving often, and don’t have the time and money to buy new razors all the time are the people who would be in need of a product to solve their problem. Furthermore, there are many demographics and/or geographic who may be affected by this issue, because people of all ages and genders who have the need to shave could use a product that solves the problem. Shaving and more broadly personal care is a huge industry and having a product that solves the problem of razors becoming dull too quickly seems to be a big opportunity that could last for a long time. Innovation: The product that I came up with...
Read more

Identifying Local Opportunites

Marcus Manzoni ENT3003 January, 28, 2020 Identifying Local Opportunities Article 1: Title: N.Y. plastic grocery bag ban starts March 1, some fear confusion, loopholes Link: https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Plastic-grocery-bag-ban-is-just-over-a-month-15008488.php Description of story: There will be a plastic bag ban in New York starting on March 1st to help protect the environment. With this ban most stores will begin to charge a few cents for paper bags, but there is a loophole that if the plastic bag is thick enough it will be considered reusable. While it's better for the environment, some are worried about the transition and the cost of paper bags. Description of problem: plastics bags are being banned and people are going to be charged for paper bags in New York. Who has the problem: New York citizens, grocery stores, government officials Article 2: Title: Getting There: Thruway tolls may soon be completely cashless & more expensive Link: https://www.timesunio...
Read more

Halfway Reflection

Image
Marcus Manzoni ENT3003 February 25, 2020 Halfway Reflection 1.To keep up with this course, my best strategy has been doing the assignments at the very beginning of the week. The assignments are mostly easy but they are definitely tedious and can be time consuming depending on the requirements, so I prefer doing them on a Monday or Tuesday just so they aren’t hanging over my head the rest of the week. 2.I have never really wanted to “give up” per se, but I have had times where I was frustrated with the class. The first was when for one of the earlier assignments I forgot to declare the comments I made for the post, which is a process I never had to do before and I was not accustomed to doing so. Even though I did the work, because I didn’t declare I lost points and that is frustrating. The second thing that has tested my compliance has been the assignments that require interviews. I do not enjoy these assignments because they can be a lot of work and I don’t like conducting...
Read more