Before any orchestra starts playing, the conductor raises her baton and creates an anacrusis, a silent upbeat to mark the brief pause between what was, is and will be. This pause is an ongoing feature in the Art of Patiencing. I’m using patience not as the noun it is, rather as a verb we can create it to be. To use this active process in our lives is to call ourselves to attend to what’s taking place in the moment. Rather than seeing patience as something we have or don’t have, patiencing is an ongoing process.

With the mental and or physical gesture of raising our metaphorical baton, we can call our attention to the present moment, to the pause just before we speak or act to influence the drama we’re conducting. A new focus is brought to the words that will be spoken, the actions to be taken, the journey that will be engaged. New melodies will be created, harmonies arranged, movements taken and actions performed. We notice the tears in the violin section, the anger with the percussionists, the joy of the soloists.

With this slight pause, we can reconfigure our composition, change our approach, calm our fears and proceed without complaint. We can transform difficulty into ease and adversity into forbearance. We can discover the beauty that’s before us and the process that’s gradually unfolding. A natural phenomenon of creativity gradually changes the advancement of the arrangement and we are in harmony with a new production. The art comes in the skill acquired through the experience of actively engaging the process.

Your goals and dreams are manifest through your conscious use of experience, skillful means, study and observation. Patiencing becomes timing. It waits for the appropriate times to act in appropriate ways for the most delicious performances to flower. As the one with the baton, you internally orchestrate the spectacles you perceive. You watch and listen to the mother guiding her child through the grocery store. You wave to the neighbor walking his old dog. You adopt a calm acceptance of yourself and all things.

The Art of Patiencing is a purifying process that refines wisdom and understanding. It teaches acceptance of things as they are. It asks that we have faith in the True Nature of Being to focus on the wonder and wisdom of what we can enhance in life rather than what we can’t. It creates harmony from discord, joy from sorrow and success from failure. Within it we see the world through the silent pause, the momentary upbeat that brings attention to the possibilities and potentialities that are ever before us. Here we enter a process of artistic engagement that inspires us to create new realities. . . .

• To start practicing the Art of Patiencing use your metaphorical baton. Practice the silent upbeat of anacrusis and visualize yourself as a conductor of the orchestra that’s before you. Allow this brief pause to engage your imagination and feel the beauty of the artistry that’s ever present. Whatever the drama or score, appreciate what you can and relax into the rest. Realign with the patiencing process. . . .
• Spend some time this week with patiencing. Allow patience to become active, to become participatory. When you notice impatience, anxiety, tension or frustration within, inhale a deep breathe and pause. On the exhale remember your True Nature which is always patiencing and presencing. Allow this to create a new focus. Breathe in patiencing. Breathe out acceptance. Feel the shift and conduct yourself creatively. Appreciate the artistry of your Life and lovingly embrace what is and can be.