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Many of life’s blessings are accidental discoveries. Take post-it notes, for example. An inventor at 3M “failed” in his attempt at creating glue on paper he’d meant it to be long lasting and secure; instead he could easily pull apart the papers he’d dabbed his experimental goo upon. He happened to have a pack of his “failures” at church one Sunday and used them to mark the songs in his hymnal. He had a “Eureka Moment” – his so called “failure” is now a part of everyone’s office. Another man, frustrated while taking a walk in the woods because burrs clung to his clothing decided to study the problem – he ended up inventing Velcro. Charles Goodyear discovered a novel way to manufacture rubber when he accidentally dropped a piece of rubber that was treated with sulfur onto a heated stove.
The field of occupational therapy also started as an accidental discovery. The profession I retired from began in a dark, frightening place – in a state mental hospital during World War I. This was before psychotropic medications or meaningful therapy. Mental hospitals were places where people with misunderstood disorders were warehoused, often for a lifetime, and often experimented upon. Lobotomies were not unusual.
The work force dramatically changed, as men joined the military. Few women worked in the state mental institutions back then, especially as custodians or cooks. The places were barely clean or cared for before the war. Afterwards, it far worse.
Someone got that idea of putting the patients to work, the sole purpose being to plant the seeds in the garden, care for the livestock they used for meals, clean up – it was, in short, out of necessity, not with any therapeutic goal in mind.
People got better. Patients who hadn’t spoken in years spoke. People who never left their beds left their rooms. Patients bragged about the tomato plants sprouting and how much better things looked after they had cleaned it. It was dramatic! Suddenly, the patients in that institution had something to wake up for, rituals were added to their lives and they discovered the joy of creating, building, learning…doing!
So when you feel stressed about an event or a project that “failed”…look deeper. When you view your days as mundane and lacking meaning…look deeper. It is during those uncomfortable, even painful, times when accidental discoveries can be made that pay off in dividends beyond your greatest expectations. And finally, during those painful life moments, rediscover the absolute joy in ritual and purpose.
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