What Substack Taught Me About Nimbleness, Improvisation, and the Absolute Necessity of Mistakes

Part II of II

By Jeannine Ouellette

I’ve built a writing and teaching practice, and, indeed, an entire life, on the power of nimbleness, improvisation, and the power of embracing mistakes. Naturally, I gravitate to others who espouse this philosophy, like improvisational violinist and computer artist Stephen Nachmanovitch, who explores these concepts in his classic Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art:

The literature on creativity is full of tales of breakthrough experiences. The...