There is an old Irish proverb, ‘Nil saoi gan locht’ – there is no craftsman without a flaw.*

Frequently, in a journey of the soul, the most precious moments are the mistakes. They have brought you to a place that you otherwise woulds have avoided.**

(John O’Donohue)

We may think flaws and mistakes are no way to live and work.

As I reflect on how I got to be here, in place and time, I have to confess John O’Donohue sees me truly.

This truth keeps moving me forward.

His words brought to mind some words I embraced as soon as I read them decades ago, and which architect and artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh would make his mantra:

There is hope in honest error, none in the icy perfections of the mere stylist.^

*From John O’Donohue’s Divine Beauty;
**From John O’Donohue’s Anam Cara:
^J. D. Sedding.