If patience replaces time

(Submitted by The Art of Living Team)

To affirm one’s life as a work of art is more than a middle-class pastime. It is, in fact, a direct challenge to a class-ridden European inheritance epitomized by William Butler Yeats’ contention that a man must choose between perfecting either the life or the work.

Such a split - between art and life, between those who work and those who create - is no longer viable, for we have arrived at a point in our social evolution where being the artist of our own lives, creating lives that are authentic, instead of accepting or assuming ready-made models, is requisite for entry into the coming century.

Every age has its tyrants, and in this postmodern era, tyranny is expressed through the interlocking webs of institutions that control our lives. The health, insurance, and banking industries, fixated on notions of 'security' and 'future', lead us to believe that it is impossible to fundamentally transform one’s career, to live for something other than a salary. How can life be a “craft to be most carefully mastered”, when the institutions around us favour the quick-fix and mass-produced copy?

If patience replaces time, we may be able to reconnect with the natural rhythms of our nature. Instead of looking for a new job 'out there', we can turn to the real source - ourselves - and allow our authenticity to recreate our lifestyles and our work, for the two go hand in hand.

To have patience may be the singular act of courage in today’s world. Such patience appears when it is understood that 'you are your own destination', that there is nothing and no one better to be than yourself. This is a genuine affirmation of the value of your own essence, a leap beyond the endless regression of doubt, and it will enable you to develop work situations that nourish your soul. The art of work thus emerges as a path.

From 'Creating the Work You Love: Courage, Commitment, and Career', by Rick Jarow. Destiny Books, 1995.

Image credit: 'Red Alley', by Leonid Afremov. www.afremov.com