John, I tend to agree with your 4 reasons for "failure". Some of us expect to put our tanks together and have everything fall into place like puzzle pieces. Well, like any artistic ability, vision is 95% of the law. And the rest comes is the skill it takes to properly care for your aquarium. I think most of us can work hard enough to build up a skill level high enough to dabble into the rest of the 95%. Say you put together your scape based on what someone else has already done artistically. To be honest, you aren't really creating anything new, a "copy" if you will. But if you decide to break the mold and create something different, that is where you fail, fail, and fail again - according to you. There are critics for everything you do who roundabout tell you you've failed. Therefore (in your eyes) you've failed. In my tanks, I dont' use most of what others have already done, rather my scapes fall into my own vision of what I think can possibly work together. I can't think I'm failing because my experience level and ideas don't compare to those who've "succeed" - according to the standard. I get a lot of praises from laymen, and sometimes I feel I dont' live up to the popular or more "net" established aquarists. I'm no newbie but I'm in no way at the level of some. I accept that and don't work beyond my means. Keeping myself humble if you will. So if you ask yourself where you are and what you are trying to accomplish and strive for that, then you may never fail. So start building your puzzle.
-chad
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