Stefon Harris and his improvisational jazz quarter show us a clear lesson here: There are no true mistakes. The amazing thing is that they do it without words for the first half of this Ted Talk…only music. Lots and lots of insanely creative music that just flows from their feelings to their fingertips as if by magic to create a tapestry of color tones that paint our emotions.
But when Stefon does start to talk, he explains that mistakes are not mistakes but missed opportunities, and this talk really starts to open our minds. Instead of forcing things to happen, he and his fellow bandmates use the bandstand to work together and affect one another in order to create a deeper palette of tones with which they can inspire one another. His comparison to forced vs fluid shows a clear image of how synchronicity is either built or destroyed.
We need to look at those opportunities that can be found in a perceived mistake to see if we actually received the true intention of that person. Since we’re not in their mindset, we can only guess at what they may or may not have intended. But if we let an opportunity slip by, then we might just miss the most important creation ever. That’s the beauty of creation…it’s true power can be found in what we make of it.
Like this little bit of musical perfection:
http://youtu.be/-klKGVbV2hE
