Win or Learn 



In the journey of creativity and innovation, failure often rises before us like an immovable wall, heavy with disappointment and doubt. Yet what if we chose to see it differently, not as an ending, but as a bend in the road, guiding us somewhere we hadn’t yet imagined? When we adopt the belief that we either win or learn, never truly lose, the entire landscape of our creative lives begins to shift.

Every act of creation carries risk. You give your time, your energy, your heart to an idea, only to watch it unfold in ways you didn’t expect. It can feel disorienting, even discouraging. But within those moments lies a quiet gift. What appears to be failure is often a signal to pause, look closer, and refine your direction. It asks you to reconsider, to reimagine, to grow. Failure, in this light, is not a judgment, it is instruction.

When you allow yourself to learn from these moments, resilience takes root. You begin to understand that no experience is wasted, that each misstep sharpens your awareness and expands your perspective. The work becomes less about avoiding mistakes and more about engaging fully with the process. In this space, curiosity replaces fear, and growth becomes inevitable.

Learning to embrace this mindset doesn’t happen overnight. At first, it may feel unnatural to welcome failure with openness rather than resistance. But with time, something remarkable occurs. Setbacks lose their power to stop you. They become momentum instead, proof that you are in motion, that you are trying, that you are alive in your work. Each challenge becomes preparation for a stronger return.

As this way of thinking settles in, creativity flourishes. You begin to experiment more freely, to take bolder risks, to explore ideas without the weight of perfection pressing down on you. When learning becomes the goal, fear loosens its grip. You are no longer chasing success alone; you are building wisdom, depth, and confidence with every attempt.

This is where transformation happens. When losing is no longer part of the equation, you move forward with quiet certainty. Even when outcomes fall short of expectations, you carry something invaluable with you, insight, experience, and clarity. The path may twist and wander, but it always leads you forward.

When you stumble, pause and look again. What did this moment teach you? What door did it quietly open? The journey is still unfolding, and each lesson brings you closer to the artist, thinker, and creator you are becoming. Keep going. The best is still ahead.

The Christopher Mudgett archive collection is the only one in the world to present the artist’s up-to-date painted, sculpted, engraved and illustrated œuvre and a precise record—through sketches, studies, drafts, notebooks, photos, books, films and documents—of the creative process.
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