Living and Mistakes

Published on Nov 7, 2016 (updated Feb 5, 2024), filed under misc. (Share this post, e.g., on Mastodon.)

Straight to the point: We can’t make a mistake living our own lives.

A counter to the fear of doing wrong, the harmful idea of guilt, as well as unhelpful doubt, the statement’s power lies in the realization that it is, that it must be impossible for us, as individuals, to live our lives “incorrectly,” that we could ever make a mistake living. Impossible.

This doesn’t mean that we wouldn’t make mistakes—whatever a mistake really means—, but that on an existential, on an overall level, living cannot be compared to not knowing how to, um, fly helicopters (I still don’t, either), how to build high quality websites, or how to avoid ever stepping on anyone’s toes. (I know, what examples.)

The observation stems from past personal struggle, a struggle that I had used to amplify my own efforts to work on myself. Very near my own personal set of beliefs, I had this idea that I was “always” doing something wrong, that I was “always” making mistakes. Apart from the hostile, absolutistic wording (cf., hat tip Eric Couillard, Nonviolent Communication) the message was of course nonsensical: I couldn’t possibly make a mistake living my own life. Neither can you; neither can anyone of us.

About Me

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m an engineering lead, guerrilla philosopher, and indie publisher. I’ve worked as a technical lead and engineering manager at various companies (e.g., Google); I’m an active web and tool developer (code optimization, digital defense), a contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and a book author (O’Reilly, Frontend Dogma).

I love trying things—in web development and engineering management, but also in politics and philosophy, where I hold to one idea in particular: that we can only be well if we take good care of everyone. Here on meiert.com I talk about some of my perspectives and experiences. (Interpret charitably but be critical—and share feedback and advice that makes my work better.)