A little whimsical, perhaps — but this is a thought worthy of perusing and perhaps implementing as a poetic approach to the troubles of being an imperfect being. (Consider this a follow-up to this other piece on mistakes.)

Mistakes demonstrate the humanity of an action committed to by someone in a moment in time. It is an honest record of what has happened as the object was being made; to remove traces of a mistake, some might even say, is to lie about the process and the person behind the resulting work, as well as to present a level of perfection that may be laudable but bears no trace of the capsule of time in which the thing was formed.

Instead of a licence for carelessness and disrespect for one’s craft, however, this perspective holds a respect for both the ideal of a work well done and the wholehearted effort of the craftsman even if that ideal is never reached.

I think this is a healthy approach to working on project with our hands, with praying and talking through the relationships we find ourselves in, with mulling over thoughts and ideas that slip in and out of our minds.

If you can catch a typo, make it right. If the post you are joining onto the frame of a barn is crooked, fix it. Some mistakes are avoidable and should be avoided; others may lead to disastrous outcomes if made and left alone, and should thus be addressed.

But if you miss a stitch as you are knitting a blanket, find the cut you’ve made in your sourdough loaf a bit too deep, or otherwise made a slip-up that really only bothers your ego, maybe it is fine — or even better than just “fine” — to leave it be and let it remind of you of the experience of creation,your strength to complete the project despite reasons not to, and your own flawed and beautiful humanity.