Friday, September 9, 2011

Audio: The Wait

Today's audio (of my poem from last October, "The Wait") goes out to all of us who have felt like we have been focused on waiting for something to happen.

When I wrote this poem, I was thinking about how anxious anticipation can kill the present. In the last year or so, I've made the conscious effort to allow important dates and events to approach and then happen, without ignoring the hours and days available to me right now.

It's a real challenge, especially for deadline-driven, procrastinator me (see "Something PM" for more on this). But I've felt both busy and productive because of it, which is a good thing.

How do you deal with knowing that change is approaching? How do you prevent it from interfering with you-in-the-present?

Have a listen, then have a long look at this gorgeous image (by Margareta Bloom Sandebeck) that inspired the poem. Then have a wonderful weekend.

The Wait by The Storialist

7 comments

  1. I haven't been able to listen to your poem this far. I just hear "You are listening to..." and then it goes silent. Will have another try later.

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  2. "your mind on your body's roof"...I love that. And I love the description of being out of sync, with the light bulbs, and postage stamps and all.

    I do try to stay in the moment, but it depends. If I can do something about whatever it is, then I don't feel right just letting it come. But if it is something I can't do anything about, then I am pretty good at not dwelling.

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  3. "You wait to be pushed through..." I try to stay in the present and not worry too much about what is to come. On worrying about not worrying so much, it seems I am needing that extra push lately.

    Enjoy your weekend, Hannah.

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  4. Like fireblossom, I love "your mind on your body's roof" and the waiting feeling of this poem. I do tend to concentrate on the future.

    Have a beautiful weekend Hannah!

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  5. Oh I love this. I am always ahead of real-time, a step ahead and waiting for that thing to happen. I have come to think of this anxious waiting as a gift of extra energy and try to focus on transforming that energy from the anxious form into a different form...I actively work on it. Have a great weekend Hannah! : )

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  6. Fine reading, Hannah. It's a wonderful poem for discussion. . . where the waiting gets you, or doesn't; what it takes to reach the point of not being mired in the past that's over or in thrall to a future that's always yet to come.

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  7. Hi Hannah. I was unable to hear anything at all so I followed the link and read the poem. My entire life is waiting right now, so it spoke volumes to me. It was all there - the compressing of time, the struggle to stay present in the moment, the basic question - here or not here. It was "the world's enunciation that particularly struck me. If the world is enunciating it must be speaking. If it is speaking to you, then you're already more present than not. So that's a good thing. In my own experience, only a tight focus on the right here, right now, gets you through serious waiting.Perhaps because it means you're actually doing something else, and not waiting at all.

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