by When life is moving fast, it is easy to forget to live in the moment, and to look instead at the next item to check off the list. And navigating the complex journey of moving houses is one of those phases. Amidst the whirlwind of international relocation, I realised that maintaining patience is a formidable challenge.
This took me back a couples of weeks ago, when, as I was walking the dog on a gloomy day in London, dodging rain puddles and trying to keep the wind from blowing away my umbrella, I came across this scene:
At the top of the stairs at Hayward Gallery, a large private gallery, a group of workers were putting together an intricate stack of wood poles, criss-crossing them at apparently random angles.
It is the setting up of the gallery’s next art installation. I saw them starting this a week ago, painstakingly placing every log at just the “right angle”. Doing it now in the pouring rain, helmets and gear on, keeping their balance on wet scaffolding.
They do not seem to have progressed much in a week and they still have a looong way to go, in what seems like a meticulous, slow undertaking. Hundreds of wet wood poles seem to patiently wait their turn.
Patience… Art would not exist without it. We are enchanted by it, but what goes on behind the scenes is equally interesting. The long hours, the perseverance, the strength to start again.
Patience is the unsung hero of life. Like in art, we need to have patience with ourselves: to heal, to learn something new, to kick a bad habit, to forgive. You might have to keep at it in the pouring rain, with people rolling their eyes in dismay, discouraged by the long way ahead.
Patience will keep alive that inner spark, that fires up your passion to put one foot in front of the other and keep going.
And maybe, before you know it, the wet stack of wood will start making sense and become this:
Credits: Asim Waqif, “Venu”, Installation 20 July – 22 Oct. 2023, Hayward Gallery
