Developing Patience: Slowing Down to Speed Up (Part I)
Time is a chief commodity for artists, especially writers. We not only need time to work, but, if not more importantly, for thinking about our work–mulling over what we have done with a drawing, painting or piece of writing. Time, in the open space of seemingly doing nothing, permits us to decide what route we shall take next.
Time. It is an essential element, to invent and bring form to the nothingness of raw materials, and then reflect on what we have manifested. We would do well to remember that God took seven days to create the earth, and all therein.
The pricing of a work must therefore include the cost for time spent not just writing or painting. This stand in accordance with the familiar adage, “Money is time. And time is money.� Like it or not, money contributes to our ability to give one’s self the time to think and be, as well as work and create.
Yet there our attitude toward time, and how we spend it, or better said, how we value the manner in which we allocate it.
All too often and when allowing our minds to wander, to freely associate, and connect with the heart, we believe ourselves to be accomplishing nothing. We consider taking time away from our work a waste–conclude that we are squandering our resources of which time is top priority.
The ability, or inability to give one’s self time to, whether it be actively creating or considering what we have brought in to being, is directly connected, if not influenced by our development, or lack of patience—our commitment to our work, and ourselves.
