Posted on

three

Place: doctors surgery

Poison: water and soon to be glucose test!

Favorite Things: random old edition magazines.

One the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, three rounds of patience, random acts of kindness and love and a place to express my creativity.

It is now 11.19am and I have been at the doctors surgery since 9.16am and in fact I am really enjoying myself. I knew it was going to be a long morning with some tests that need an hour of brew time, so I came prepared.

In a world of now, to be asked to wait three hours can be seen as frustrating, inconsiderate and downright annoying. I have come to realize though in second and third world contexts a three hour wait is in fact a normal part of everyday life.

We expect timeliness, but sometimes all we need to do is wait. Patience is considered an old fashioned virtue, especially as I watch people pace in supermarket queues or a doctors surgery waiting room. Imagine if we all took the forced space and quiet to reflect, write or think?

Thinking is so undervalued today, because I believe we hardly get an opportunity to reflect because our worlds are so noisy and overflowing. As I have waited, patience hasn’t come easily, but its rewards are endless.

To be able to pace ourselves in this season and enjoy whatever moments we find ourselves in, even if they are annoying, creates a much needed buffer zone. My husband is a big believer in deep breathing, and reflection. Maybe his years of intense training has helped him refine this skill of discipline and patience.

Deep breathing and rest, reflection and quiet don’t come that easy to me.

I am going to try to develop this virtue in these last days of Christmas and especially in the final days of my pregnancy, as I know the new season of motherhood is going to require it.

Slow down dear creative friend…

Find some space to reflect.

Even if its forced upon you.

Patiently

A