The Art of Patience

I don’t know where creative ideas come from. I can’t summon them or coax them into being. So, I practice patience—but not the kind that waits for something to arrive. This patience is gentler and more human. It’s the patience of being with myself as I am: an artist who wishes for inspiration and wants things to go his way.

Sometimes, an idea comes. Of course, ideas always come, but they may not be what I hoped for or expected. In practicing this kind of patience, I'm not concerned with controlling the outcome. This kind of patience is staying close to the moment, even when the moment feels empty or unclear.

To be patient in this way is to surrender to the mystery of creativity. To trust the process. To be an artist with nothing in particular to say—and to let that, too, be part of the art.