Uruguayan-american artist
Graciela Testa Lynt
stoneware pottery
I find that life is a lot like
making pots. You spend most
of your time trying to make
that idea in your head into a
real thing you can wrap your
hands around. Searching for
the perfect job, the perfect
relationship,
the
perfect
house … the perfect pot. After
much work, you get what you
wanted, but it wasn’t what you
expected … it turns out that
the pot you get out of the kiln
isn’t much like what you had in
mind. Or after you think you’ve
got it, something goes wrong.
After struggling for years you
have a moment of perfect
understanding and peace…
you sit at the wheel and make
gorgeous pots effortlessly… and then
the moment is gone. I’ve learned that
life, like making pots, is about embracing
failure. Not being afraid to fail frees us
to spread our wings a bit farther, push
the clay a bit more … it might collapse
… or it might yield a beautiful pot! So it
is with life. Looking back I see how fear
kept me from much joy. I am learning to
be fearless now!
Several years ago, I was fortunate to be able to hold in
my hands a 1000-year-old Chinese pot at the