I do dumb things all the time. Like that time I thought it would be a good idea to buy 300 copies of my own book, only to realize that it is very difficult to travel with so many books. Thus, I have a lot of books just sitting in my living room like some crazy narcissist.

There was that other time when I thought it would save time and energy if I just sent 100 different galleries the same e-mailed plea as to why I thought I should have my work represented by them. Every gallery turned me down because of my time and energy saving methods.

A few years ago I was rushing to get to a shooting location in the forest. By the time I had my camera set up it was so dark I could hardly see what I was shooting, yet I did it anyway. The only problem was that I had wrapped about 10 feet of yarn around my head and couldn’t get it off while in the dark without scissors. I drove to the nearest gas station before nearly cutting off my air supply, all the while chuckling gravely at how strange a death scene that would have been.

One time (re: a lot more than one time) I failed to answer emails and then left them for months because I would start to panic every time I opened my inbox (re: re: this is happening right now).

I went to the grocery store in my favorite skirt, went to the bathroom, and came out with that same skirt tucked into my underwear in the back. Thank you random kind lady for letting me know before I got to the dairy aisle. Yes, that was highly embarrassing.

You are going to do some pretty stupid things. From whacking your head on a tree branch to royally messing up a business deal, things happen, and sometimes they happen often. In fact, sometimes it feels like all you’re doing is messing up. But even though there are endless opportunities to make mistakes, there are the same amount of opportunities to get it right.

Laugh at yourself. Realize that few things are really that serious. Laugh at yourself because if you do it first you recognize your mistakes and take responsibility. Laugh at yourself because you know how short life is, and it can’t be spent in misery. Laugh at yourself for the mistakes you’ve made and the mistakes you will make.

Remember that whacking your head on tree branches is a sign of growth, no matter how much it might hurt, so wear that bruise with pride. And next time you’re out remember to keep your chin up, because you never know where the next tree branch will come from and you don’t want it to smack you in the head.

Tomorrow I’m going out to shoot another red yarn wrapped around the body picture, and this time I am determined not to asphyxiate myself or anyone else in the process. See? Always learning.

So, what dumb things have you done?