Everybody’s busy. Everyone I meet says they are. With so much to do in our Western, post-industrial lives, it is easy to resent being made to wait. It can seem like a waste of time, during which we are prevented from engaging in the many activities that fill the rest of our existence. Overstimulated, short attention span twenty-first-century brains are less able to tolerate a lack of distraction. With instant messaging, last-minute delays can be communicated to assuage the conscience of the tardy, forcing you to wait even longer.
Whether it’s an arrangement to hook up with a friend, a meeting at work, a late train, an appointment with a government department or a medical professional, there can be multiple causes conspiring to steal your time. Now, many people choose to fill those spaces by scrolling through the almost infinite possibilities available on a smartphone. I don’t have one but, as someone with an overactive brain who likes doing things, my default method to deal with waiting was always to have a book with me. This is not a sign of patience.
Could there be some value to be found in waiting?
Several years ago, after reading Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein’s acclaimed (and controversial) sci-fi novel, I had reason to reconsider my attitude. The Martian, Mike Smith, challenged human impatience with the simple phrase “waiting is” and would simply sit in passive repose. Whilst I can’t boast I follow Smith’s philosophy entirely, I have come to realise “waiting is” an opportunity. I’m not talking about anything psycho-spiritual or related to personal development, although I envy those with the discipline and fortitude for meditation.
To “be here now” is not just a chance to calm the mind; I find it relaxing, sometimes even enriching, to be fully present in the present. By this I mean you start to notice sensations. What can you smell? The cloying funk of a passer-by’s perfume, baked earth, wet concrete, hawthorn blossom? What can you hear? Birds, traffic, a child whining, the wind in the trees, a street musician? Are you sitting on a soft upholstered seat, a plastic chair or a wooden bench? Feel its texture. What can you see? Previously unnoticed architectural details, tiny insects, peeling posters, the way the light picks out the detail on the edge of the water cooler? What about other folk? People watching can be fascinating; clothing, posture, hairstyles and facial features are boundlessly varied. If someone looks grumpy – which a lot of people do as they rush past – try to imagine handing them a £50 note and see the look on their face.
If you are a writer, noticing these things provides fertile ground in which to germinate your imaginative seeds when creating your world and its inhabitants. If not, try to follow Smith’s example and you might just “grok” your surroundings and circumstances with a different perspective. Or, if you have to take a book with you, try Stranger in a Strange Land; although somewhat dated now, it might just rock your world.
Geoff King 