Hello friends,
Let's talk about ITERATION this month - that beautiful, messy process of trying, failing, tweaking, and totally transforming. It's not just a technical term; it's basically the secret sauce of life, creativity, and personal growth.
Artists don't create masterpieces; they iterate them.
How many bulls do you think Picasso drew in his lifetime? Just take a guess. I am guessing 54,672. I’m guessing a lot because I know it’s was not magic that made Picasso great. It was iteration! He practiced and he improved.
The same is true for us! That stunning painting in our gallery? It probably started as a hot mess. Those first sketches were awkward, clunky, maybe even cringe-worthy. But each stroke, each revision, each moment of stepping back and looking with fresh eyes - that's where transformation and improvement occurs.
Our lives improve through iteration too!
We're all just works in progress, constantly drafting and redrafting our personal narratives. Our careers aren't linear paths; mine certainly bounced all over the place (I was a fisherman, a bookkeeper, a chambermaid, a florist and so much more). Our relationships aren't perfect from the start; they're collaborative work that we continuously refine. Our dreams aren't static goals either; they're living, breathing entities that shift and grow along with us.
Iteration teaches us a profound life lesson: growing is fun!
Trying and changing direction and trying again fuels our curiosity and energy. We are alive and growing! Mistakes aren't failures; they're just rough drafts waiting to be enhanced. Every "oops" moment is actually an "aha!" moment in disguise.
So embrace the mess this month. Love the process. Dance with your drafts. Laugh at your first attempts. Celebrate every imperfect, glorious iteration. Because becoming is an art form, and you, my friend, are the masterpiece.
Love, Jess and the Slow River Staff