In creative work, modest ambitions often yield modest results, whereas ambitious experiments can fail loudly yet advance the craft. Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane (1941) is celebrated, but Welles also made projects that were commercially troubled; the larger point is that audacity leaves a trace that cautious competence rarely does. Even when a work misfires, it can inspire others, open new techniques, or clarify a unique voice.
Consequently, “spectacular” becomes a creative ethic: treat your attempts as meaningful contributions, not as tests of personal worth. That mindset makes risk feel less like self-harm and more like participation in a larger tradition of trying. [...]
