happy accidents

One of my favorite sayings these days is Happy Accidents.  But I want to give credit where credit is so deserved.  I first heard this wonderful saying while watching the TV Artist Bob Ross.  While many have become familiar with Bob over these last several years, I am proud to say I was a fan in the early 90's when you could only catch the shows in their original form on PBS.   The show was originally taped in Muncie Indiana - I have no idea why - and the final season wrapped in 1994 (I think).  Sadly Bob passed away shortly thereafter but his legacy for calm and creativity have lived on.  And now, 20 plus years later, he and his half hour shows demonstrating easy effortless landscape painting have found new audiences and can be seen on streaming networks.    Some trivia to start your morning!

My original point was that Bob often stated "we don't make mistakes, we just have Happy Accidents".  He shared this because while he may have been using different colors or painting a range of landscapes, there was a clear process and discipline to his work.    By following this approach he came up with unexpected but wonderful results.  The sum of those Happy Accidents was the creation of a painting that had started off in his imagination.

I see many parallels when we do we do or as Seth Godin often calls "our art".  It comes from developing practices that are the truest expression of ourselves.  For me,  I love creating new connections with nonprofits and their leaders.  My practices are doing a few things every day - invitations to conversations, responded to requests for help, sharing ideas - that speak to that commitment to connecting.  I find that the more consistently I do these activities, the more these Happy Accidents seem to find their way into my work.