WAITING and ALMOSTS

Can we learn to celebrate the *almosts* in a creative life?

“Of all the hardships a person had to face, none was more punishing than the simple act of waiting.”

— A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini

Can you find stillness in waiting?

This is the question I’ve sat with this week.

Entertainment is a business of waiting. Everything takes so much longer than you want it to, and there is no other option but to wait. Creatives in other industries likely confront this as well, as do aspiring writers: You wait for the fellowship or festival to announce its finalists, wait for notes, wait to hear about a job, wait for a promotion, wait for somebody to notice your potential.

Sometimes, it’s worth noting, you don’t need to wait. You can simply go create. I never recommend waiting around for permission that might never come if you can do it yourself. But often, the period of not-knowing, of hoping and dreaming, of wondering if you did good enough, is inevitable.

Waiting is so painful because you fantasize about the reality that could be while also knowing very well it might never come to pass. It can be an anxiety-inducing hell, as well as exhilarating and exciting.

I long ago accepted that making a living as a creative is a life of almost getting the thing that would change your life. That could’ve been me! I was so close! It was between me and somebody else!

For many years, getting to the almost stage didn’t feel like a win. It felt frustrating and painful. Now, I look at this phase as something to celebrate.