Monday, April 22, 2024
Waiting doesn’t have the drawbacks you think it does. My young friend Henry, the 5-year-old from Michigan I wrote about a few weeks ago, said that since my visit there was so short, he wanted to “soak it in.” How wise!
I like to think of waiting as marinating, particularly when it comes to creative enterprise. Like aged wine or steak, ideas get better with time. The formation of a dream needs to saturate and expand. Imagine how much better it will taste if the meat has time to cure, or if the wine has more time to breathe, expand, and develop its robustness.
Taking your time is not wasting it. There is no waste. Giving it some light, some time to sleep on it. It helps everything solidify and confirm. I love to chew on it a while, live with the possibilities, and see if they get tastier. Waiting serves a purpose. It allows goodness to soak in.
If you’re rushing around, if you’re always trying to get to the end, or you’re frustrated with the waiting process, you’re missing the point. I used to rush when learning music. I wanted to be able to play the piece, without letting it marinate, mature, and soak in. If you really let it soak, once it does, boy is it tasty. I get the best ideas if I wait. I play better if I give it the time. The quality of my experiences increase ten-fold when I allow the saturation period. It’s not procrastinating. It’s not delay. It’s maturity.
A mature idea tastes better than one that’s rushed. The stomach takes time to empty. The taste buds take time to develop. The so-called delay will make “the meal” much more enriching and fulfilling. Don’t worry. Things are just soaking in, preparing for the delight for when the banquet feast is finally set.