Response to blog: Experience

This is a response to Gloria's blog. She asks does one really need a life-changing experience to figure out that nothing is as you thought? Can it not come by simply paying attention and learning?
Humans are complex beings, we see someone slip and fall in front of us, however we take the same path thinking that we are immune to the same fate. A person has the choice of paying attention and learning from their environment and the people around them, however humans have the "That can't happen to me attitude," or "How will I know if I don't try, everyone is different" complex. I feel though this isn't a bad thing because if you don't take risks and try things then you would end up no where in life and just living a life of regret and boredom, it can have a negative effect also. I do believe that life isn't the same for everyone, but with some things, obvious things I feel we should pay attention and not try to have a "Life changing experience" with certain things. However, pertaining to art I feel that if one artists paints something and it isn't deemed successful in the eyes of the public, that another artist should paint the same thing, because when this artist paints (and taking into consideration that no two art works are the same) he may be successful (or not). This also brings up wanting something so bad that you would do anything to get it. You see something and though it has been something that other people have tried to get but failed in getting, you yourself want to try, just for the fact of saying "I tried, I failed, but now I know." By trying something or going through something one gets an unspoken satisfaction and unspoken sense of ease because they aren't haunted by the thoughts of thinking maybe they could have succeed. Just sitting on the sidelines and watching gets a person nowhere. I think that from not learning from experience, is why we have so many successful artists today. That is why we have so many inventions and so many things available to us, because a person didn't just sit and say "Hey this couldn't happen so I won't even try." Even if hings didn't happen as they thought they tried and failed which makes room for more trial and error which will eventually lead to success.
While doing research for another class I came across the phrase, "Mother Natures Paintbrush." What do you think this means?