If I have read your question right (“What is failure?”), you need to read Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott. It’s all about what failure teaches, and how to be receptive to it. It takes a certain amount of humor, which she readily provides. (O’Neill & Social Work Libraries, PN147 .L315 1995) Writers seem to write about failure a lot. Here’s another one: The promise of failure: one writer’s perspective on not succeeding, by John McNally. (O’Neill Library PS3563. C38813 Z46 2018). The key takeaway: failure happens, learn from it, move on.