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HeartWood
A blog about cultivating
creativity, connection and contentment
wherever you are

Last Wednesday Wisdom for January 2019

1/30/2019

8 Comments

 
Mālo le onosa’i
-- Samoan proverb loosely translated as “patience is a virtue”
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​I’ve been thinking a lot about patience—and its payoffs—lately. About the years I spent writing and revising and polishing my memoir, and the months of researching agents and publishers, pitching at conferences, and sending out queries.
 
Friends praised my perseverance, but I sometimes wondered if they were secretly thinking, Isn’t it about time she gave up on this thing and got on with her life? Sometimes I wondered that myself.
 
At the same time, I kept reading about authors—many of them famous now—who traveled the same plodding path, encountering rejection after rejection until finally they hit publication pay dirt. So I waited . . . and waited . . . and kept doing everything I could to improve my odds until, miracle of miracles, I had my own book contract in hand.
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​​And then I found out still more patience is required. My memoir, Mango Rash: Coming of Age in the Land of Frangipani and Fanta, is due out in October of this year—a wait of another nine months, made up of a multitude of mini-waits. Right now, I’m waiting for my editor’s notes so I can begin another round of revisions. Then I’ll be waiting for more editorial input on final tweaks. And so on, and so on.

​Meanwhile, I’m suppressing the urge to fire off nervous-newbie question after question to my editor, knowing that she’s swamped with other projects right now and trusting that she will provide whatever information and guidance I need as I need it. Patience. Patience.
 
In that spirit, I’ve rounded up an assortment of wisdom on the subject to share with you today.
Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.
- Samuel Johnson
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​Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy.
- Saadi
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​The creative people I admire seem to share many characteristics: A fierce restlessness. Healthy cynicism. A real world perspective. An ability to simplify. Restraint. Patience. A genuine balance of confidence and insecurity. And most importantly, humanity.
- David Droga
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I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.
- Lao Tzu
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​Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.
- John Quincy Adams
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​The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.
- Arnold H. Glasow
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​Having patience is one of the hardest things about being human. We want to do it now, and we don't want to wait. Sometimes we miss out on our blessing when we rush things and do it on our own time.
- Deontay Wilder
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​Have patience with all things, But, first of all with yourself.
-  Saint Francis de Sales
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​If you would know strength and patience, welcome the company of trees.
- Hal Borland
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Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.
- May Sarton
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​Patience is the companion of wisdom.
- Augustine of Hippo
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​Despite the common misconception, having patience doesn't mean making a pact with the devil of denial, ignoring our emotions and aspirations. It means being wholeheartedly engaged in the process that's unfolding, rather than yanking up our carrots, ripping open a budding flower, demanding a caterpillar hurry up and get that chrysalis stage over with.
-  Sharon Salzberg in “The Power of Patience,” Awakin.org, February 10, 2014
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​The more you know yourself, the more patience you have for what you see in others.
- Erik Erikson
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8 Comments
Gloria Switzer
1/30/2019 08:20:30 am

Patience; A perfect topic this week of wintery weather and being housebound. Being in the now takes patience! Thanks for the helpful quotes and more patience to you as your book comes to publishing fruition. ;)

Reply
Nan
1/30/2019 01:23:32 pm

Yes, this weather is a good teacher of many things, patience included.

Reply
Coleen link
1/30/2019 09:50:31 am

So exciting on the book, Nan! Congrats. :O)

Reply
Nan
1/30/2019 01:23:58 pm

Thank you so much, Coleen! Exciting times, eh?

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Janet Glaser
1/31/2019 10:10:24 am

Love that "gardening is an instrument of grace." My hubby, the gardener, is not one who I would think of as being a patient fellow. But in the big picture, gardeners must be patient and forever optimistic. Patience reaps rewards-- a delicious tomato, a published book! Thrilled for you, but those edits are hard work. Remain patient throughout. It's worth it!.

Reply
Nan
2/3/2019 06:01:51 am

Maybe Gardener Ted uses all his patience on his garden and doesn't have any left over for other matters! LOL

I agree -- edits are worth the effort. I usually enjoy revising as much as writing. Hope that will be true this time around.

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Sally Kane link
2/4/2019 07:56:37 am

Hearing your self disclosures about the patience required to get your book published grounded me too. I respect perserverance you've shown to accomplish your dream of getting your book published. Frankly, I needed patience to read and take in the message in each of these quotes today. Hum, patience, Sally. The quote by David Droga jumped out at me.

Reply
Nan
2/6/2019 07:55:44 am

That Droga quote packed a lot into a little space, didn't it? And I know what you mean -- some days patience is easier to come by than others.

Reply



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    Nan Sanders Pokerwinski, a former journalist, writes memoir and personal essays, makes collages and likes to play outside. She lives in West Michigan with her husband, Ray.

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