Thursday, March 23, 2006

Imagine, just imagine, if someone were to offer money - serious money - for the mistakes, alterations and revisions in your life. Would you be willing to make those mistakes, alterations and revisions public knowledge?

Now imagine this: In July 2005, an obscure librarian by the name of Heather Carbo discovered 80 pages of mistakes, alterations and revisions. 80 pages of handwritten music - filled with mistakes and changes. 80 pages that had been missing for over 115 years. The author and artist of these pages? Ludwig Von Beethoven.

The sheets show where Beethoven crossed off musical notes and made quite a few changes. It just goes to show that even geniuses change their minds and make mistakes/corrections. The auction house price tag for these 80 sheets? They were expected to be auctioned off in England in December 2005 for at least $2 million.

We all make mistakes and we all make revisions/alterations in our life. And it seems the more chances we take, the more risks we take in honing our skills and sharing our gifts, the greater the potential outcome. It is fact that Ludwig Von Beethoven wrote an enormous amount of music - much of which was not published or performed publicly. It is fact that Emily Dickinson jotted numerous notes and poems - much of which were not made public until well beyond her death. As the old fashioned adage states, "You have to break a lot of eggs to make a great omelet."

So go ahead and be uniquely creative, my friend. Jot and write and design and dream to your heart's content. Make mistakes, learn from them, alter your plans and dreams - leave your artistic tracks throughout your life, in all directions. Perhaps, just perhaps, someone may be willing to pay a penny (or much more) for your thoughts and ideas...