The Daily Boost #482
Be patient, will ya?!?!?!?!
I invite you to reflect on these three principles for “harnessing the power of patience as a creative force in daily life,” as outlined by Oliver Burkeman in Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals:
“Develop a taste for having problems.” The sooner we welcome uncertainty and not-knowing as normal ways of being, the better off we’ll be. To reinforce this point, Burkeman quotes the French poet Christian Bobin: “I was peeling a red apple from the garden when I suddenly understood that life would only ever give me a series of wonderfully insoluble problems. With that thought, an ocean of profound peace entered my heart.”
“Embrace radical incrementalism.” If we work at something a little bit every day, we tend to cultivate the patience it takes to get better at something. It also helps if we quit our day’s work when it’s finished, and save more for tomorrow.
“More often than not, originality lies on the far side of unoriginality.” When we notice that we’re traveling not our own creative path but someone else’s, we can start where we are, and patiently allow our path to find itself.
(My thanks to Oliver Burkeman via Austin Kleon.)
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The Gentle Nudge
I’m currently out of studio. No free Raft events this week.
This was certainly apt for today!! Thank you!
Phyllis!!!! You've been on Fire lately! The Creative Kindling you've recently been sharing has stoked my Creative Fires, and I can feel the heat rising! Thank you so much for these tidbits that bring perspective, gentleness and self-acceptance to my creative process. I often forget to be gentle with myself (although I'm the first to offer the advice to others... go figure). Much gratitude for this.