Mistakes
Does the proportion of an eraser on a pencil imply the number of
mistakes that are allowed? A quarter of
an inch of eraser to five and a half inches of graphite. Art schools are known to insist that students
do not use erasers when drawing. Psychologist and activist John W. Gardner said
“Life is the art of drawing without an eraser” suggesting we must not fear
failure and contribute to society by being the person we are.
Robert Rauschenberg used 40 erasers over two months to carefully erase
a drawing by fellow artist Willem de Kooning, which was framed and titled
“Erased de Kooning Drawing”, 1953. A digitally enhanced infrared scan shows
traces of the original drawing. In other words mistakes cannot really be
erased, only made less obvious.
As Kathryn Schulz writes in her book “Being
Wrong”, we all love the feeling of being right, so accepting one’s mistake, can
be a complex matter. From childhood we are taught that those who make mistakes
are inferior and those who succeed in life, make no mistakes. On the contrary, errors, she says provide an
opportunity to revise our understanding of ourselves and amend our ideas about
the world.
Mistakes can also lead to new inventions, from potato chips to
penicillin, pacemakers to Post Its.
Edison, the inventor of the lightbulb, famously said “I have not failed. I’ve
just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
“There are no mistakes, only lessons”
is an oft repeated phrase.
In legal terms, a mistake is usually
an unintentional error in action, opinion, or judgment while a misdeed would be an intentional, dishonest and immoral action.
Most legal systems and religions do not
hold a person responsible if they err unwittingly, but a deliberate wrongdoing
is a sin with consequences. Error, when acknowledged, is accompanied by
anxiety, a realization that amends have to be ma de. Sophocles writes “All men
make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and
repairs the evil.” The majority of us try to move away from our mistakes rather
than acknowledge and correct them.
Mistakes as moral transgressions, are
far more complex and extreme forms of atonement may be undertaken such as self
–flagellation and other forms of physical suffering, practised by extremist
Christians. The Sale of Indulgences, instituted by Pope Urban II in the 11 C,
created a system by which sins, and punishment in the hereafter could be erased
by donations to the church. The Jews fast on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Muslims are encouraged to fast, and give charity after true repentance or
taubah. Those who are not religious, may, for example, deal with the guilt of
excessive wealth by establishing charitable organizations.
Pakistanis, known today for giving in
to the faster route of expediency rather than moral correctness, are nevertheless
very anxious about forgiveness or maghfirat. When leaving a job or embarking on a journey, it
is common to ask forgiveness for anything said or done by them - kaha suna maaf kar dayn. Amjad Sabri’s qawwali “karam maangta hoon’ (I
ask for Your Mercy) moves listeners to tears. Junaid Jamshed’s meri ghaflat mein dooba dil
badal de (change my heart that has sunk
into carelessness), is seeing a revival on social media. People pray all night for Allah’s mercy during
special months or nights. At funerals
mourners are asked to forgive the departed.
Most believe Allah will forgive even
the worst of their transgressions, because humans are an assemblage of mistakes
(Ghaltiyon ka paikar) and Allah is Merciful. In Rumi’s words “ Ours is not a
caravan of despair. Come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times.”
But there is always the fear that, as Omar Khayyam puts it:
“The moving finger writes; and, having
writ, moves on: nor all thy piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a
line, nor all thy tears wash out a word of it.”
Durriya Kazi
March 1, 2022
Karachi
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