It’s a very exciting time, I’m starting my own business. It hit me the other day that every decision made for this business will be mine. That’s probably something I should have realized before now but I took a few minutes to really savor it. For so long I worked for companies where I didn’t always agree with some of the business decisions that were made, but it wasn’t my business, I only worked there.

But now I am on the cusp of something big. At least it feels really big. I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want Mena Dragonfly Pottery, the business, to be. I have a chance to do something great here, and I want to do what feels authentic to me.

I’m finding that as I capture all of my ideas and try to work out how they’re all going to fit together I keep coming back to a podcast I heard at the beginning of the Summer: Don’t Be So Precious by Scott Berkun and Teresa Brazen. Scott and Teresa had watched The Mystery of Picasso then had a conversation about it. They begin by talking about creativity and the process of making art then they explore bringing those ideas into other aspects of life and how many of the things that we do for work, art, or both can benefit from just not being so precious. I don’t want to completely summarize the podcast here, so go have a listen and you’ll hear that it’s awesome. My biggest take away is that risk is ok, being unsure is ok, it’s all part of the process that will help me attain my bigger picture goals.

Then recently Gwen Bell wrote a post titled, Exuberant Imperfection Trumps Expertise it inspired me and reminded me of Scott and Teresa’s podcast, the idea of not worrying so much about attaining perfection, especially when you’re in the middle of a creative process, but what really stood out for me was this:

… It’s a dicey word for me, “expert.” I avoid it when writing my introductions. Social media expert, social web guru. Of course I accept the praise when it comes, but I’m devoted to a life of beginner’s mind and that’s at odds with expertise. How can we cultivate curiosity and a sense of wonder when we’re EXPERTS, as though it has been writ in stone? Those who have heard the label once or twice begin to believe it, begin to position themselves to be more experty.

The trick with words like “expert” and “teacher” and “guru” is this – these monikers ask you to trust someone else’s knowledge more than your own.

I love this idea and I think it’s fantastic. My best teachers were the ones who were often studying themselves, open to new ideas and having discussions with us, almost like they were one of us – the students. And the concept of keeping your mind open to new things, trusting yourself and the knowledge you’ve gained is powerful.

I know there are going to be some bumps along the way, I’ll probably learn a few lessons the hard way but that’s ok because I’m not going to be so precious and I’m going to have fun practicing exuberant imperfection.