Fail

We have to fail in order to practice being brave—so said Mary Tyler Moore, my mom’s fashion icon and inspiration as I was growing up. I spent a lot of my life doing everything possible to avoid failure. Only in the last few years have I actually sought out opportunities to fail and learned acceptance when it happens. Most of the time, of course, I don’t fail. But I have found that my willingness to fail gives me courage each time I push myself to do something I fear, or something new or difficult. For a few years, I made a practice of doing one thing every day that scared me. Not surprisingly, that list has shrunk significantly.

Marilyn Minter makes photographs and paintings that celebrate female beauty by embracing aspects not previously considered. I continue to be inspired by her courage to show exactly what she wants. We get to choose how we present ourselves to ourselves as well as others. Sometimes that doesn’t work, but instead of thinking of it as failure, think of it as the ultimate in courage, learning, and growth.

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