Flipping the recipe

The mindfulness of mistakes

One day, I made lemon muffins from a mix. The box called for a certain amount of water and oil; in total it required a whole cup of liquid. I flipped the ask by mistake, using the oil amount for water and the water amount for oil. Depression-era grandma and occasionally frugal person that I am, I wasn’t about to waste a box of muffin mix. I simply poured and hoped they’d turn out resembling and tasting like what I wanted them to - muffins.

When the timer went off, I popped over to the oven and - “surprise!” - they looked like muffins! Not ooey or gooey, but golden and with that pretty crackle on the top layer. Baking is something of a science and cooking is something of an art. Today, baking involved the art of making a mistake and hoping all ends well. It did! I peeled the wrapper, and the oil had helped the muffin liner slip off the muffin easily. My first bite revealed a crispy outer layer and a very, very soft and fluffy inner core. It was almost a deep fried muffin, if you can imagine that - it was equally imperfect and it was also very good! In the future, I might try the same thing because one of my muffin peeves is when warm muffin parts get stuck to the liner.

Sometimes in life, the mistake we make is one that results in a completely surprising and joyful experience (i.e.: muffins). Sometimes in life, we make a choice we simply regret after new information presents itself (i.e.: removing all my Substack posts from the past). If you look around this Substack page, regulars from years past will notice there are not many posts. Well! That’s because I removed the posts when I learned that Substack was making some business choices I did not support nor want to be a part of. I did some brief research, believed the writers who suggested that it was happening and not being satisfactorily solved, and set about finding a better site after taking down my posts for, what ended up being, a while.

There, unfortunately, is not a fully better site for someone trying to bootstrap a subscription newsletter! The options here are too helpful for a start-up writer. I then got flummoxed and let it simmer, determining whether or not to keep this space I had so joyfully cultivated. Happily, since the time I took it down, many people I respect have filled this Substack space with words I respect, appreciate, and am inspired by. I’m back, and still - it’s time to undo these Doodles (a great song by Rose Betts - check it out on your favorite streaming platform! I get literally no kickbacks for saying that, yet I think some of y’all would like it! It’s quite a bouncy tune).

So, in summary - welcome back to the mindfulness journey with me!!! In true need-to-start-before-I-get-flummoxed-by-restarting ... I'll work out all the little pieces here bit by bit and may tweak a thing or two about how I post. I will always own my mistakes, no matter if it means returning later and creating more work for myself.

A little teensy poem:

“Oops!”
By Amber Brown

we are not the sum
of only
our best
most mindful choices

we are also woven together with
mistakes
happy ones
pile up in our lives
like dandelion yellow lemon muffins rising to the oven light

timer yet to go off
in life we never know which it will be

mistakes
that become
regrets

or

mistakes
all gooey, messy, mucky
mixed up and inedible

or 

we could
embrace the try
as we grow toward the sky

embracing
mistakes -
as a form of art 

painting yellow, brown, black, pink, green, red, orange
across the tapestry of our lives
while looking back and wondering why

embracing
a mindfulness lesson
as old as the planets
as old as the sky

remember that
you are still painting
as long as you are alive

especially on the days your mistakes
flood your soul with waves of regret
or
make you want to cry
soul as stormy 
as a thunderbolt-filled sky

oh, the mindfulness
a mistake can bring
into our lives

soak in the notion that
mistakes can
be art on a canvas
where you
let your paint brushes fly

Reflection Response Opportunities: A week’s worth of prompts and practices:

Prompts (for journaling/doodling/meditation) and one practice to carry you through to the next writing. Before and after the prompts, I suggest doing a brief practice of taking three breaths in and out to open and close the prompt experience.

You are welcome to share your responses by responding to this email or posting on the Mindfully, Amber Brown comments for the post.

Joyful reminder:

All of your “you-ness” is welcome here! So glad to share this space with y’all!!

Prompt for Day 1:

What’s something that worked out that you once thought was a “mistake?”

Prompt for Day 2:

What’s something that was actually a mistake? What, if anything, did you learn from it?

Prompt for Day 3:

Who taught you what counts as a mistake? What do you wish they’d taught you about it instead? What was an empowering takeaway from what they taught you?

Prompt for Day 4:

How can you show yourself graciousness when you get flummoxed by your own choices? What is a practice or thought or prayer that helps you?

Prompt for Day 5:

Find a quote that reminds you about graciousness toward yourself, or self-compassion. Journal about it. If you feel comfortable, share the quote you found in the comments.

Prompt for Day 6:

If your life’s mistakes/missteps were gathered into a tapestry, what would it look like?

Practice for Day 7 - Just Be:

On this last day, take time to just be. Pray or meditate or sit and focus on your breath - in and out. Do this for a few minutes or as long as it serves you to do so. At the end of it say something meaningful...for example...I am more than my mistakes, I am present, or I am love, I am enough, or I am more than my labels. Take a few more deep breaths. Come back to the present and give yourself a hug - celebrate your wins this week! You are amazing, indeed!

Mindfully,

Amber Brown