Where The Boom Bands Aren't Playing: The Waiting Place

Note: This piece went out to my letter subscribers earlier this week. I don’t usually duplicate work but this feels like something we all need to read.

This was going to be a letter about not waiting, about claiming something now. In light of the fact that my family & I are self-quarantined after a trip to Germany, I'll go in the opposite direction.

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In "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" Dr Seuss reminds us that there will be times when we get waylaid. Something happens and we find ourselves confused, ("You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.") We grow desperate to move away from that uncomfortable feeling. We do end up in a different place but it's the Waiting Place...for people just waiting.

But Americans take action, the thinking goes. We don't wait to be picked, we pick ourselves! We all know that waiting is bad. Moving onward and upward is what we can (and should) do! We just need to make up our minds and do it, for goodness sake. And even in Dr Seuss' land, waiting is seen as bullocks,

"No! That's not for you! Somehow you'll escape all that waiting and staying. You'll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing....because you're that kind of a guy!"

But the idea of always moving, of never waiting, isn't the best anthem. Sometimes waiting has value. Now is one of those times.

  • I have items for the dry cleaner.

  • Toys, clothes to donate (before my kiddo changes her mind).

  • Clothes to return to a store.

  • A boot to be resoled.

  • Books to go back to the library.

I bet you do too.

But we need to engage our waiting and staying muscle. Perhaps, like our gut instinct muscle, it isn't accustomed to the tension of use. But we need to start. We must do this, to whatever extent is possible for our situation. Here, at this particular pandemic moment The Waiting Place is not a bad or embarrassing place to be. We're not being lazy or failing to live up to our fullest potential if we avoid the gym or networking event.  It's the opposite: we can be of service by simply waiting. We are doing something for others, by staying home. 

Be generous. Stay in the Waiting Place. I believe we'll all come out better on the other side, if we can.

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