We are living in a time where we have the entire world at our fingertips, anything can be done with just a snap of our fingers. In a world where technology is so advanced and everything so fast-paced that you get food in a drive-through within 10 minutes. Talking to someone in a time-zone 7 hours behind happens in a blink. Learning anything and everything about something takes just a stable internet connection. We have become so accustomed to having things done quickly.
Despite there being uncountable advantages of this speed that we’ve gained and gotten used to in our lives, I think we are at a disadvantage in a lot of things as well. One example is, by getting everything done only within a few minutes, we have lost the virtue of patience. Especially patience in art.
By “art”, I mean paintings, sculptures, pottery, poetry, music and every other thing that uses a person’s creativity. Being so used to having everything done speedily, we have come to lose our calm and patience while working on art.
Working on that basic outline/ preliminary drawing or thinking of that most-fitting next line of the 2nd stanza of a poem can be frustrating. Redrawing and rephrasing and then some more redrawing and rephrasing… It takes time. And it takes patience to keep on trying during that time.
We, as a society as well as individuals, have become so accustomed to instant gratification. That anything that doesn’t give instant results seems futile and a waste of time, energy and money to us.
We forget that without patience, the piles of unfinished work which could have become a masterpiece are now JUST a pile of unfinished work. The amount of effort that we had put in that work, to start it and to get it done midway; all of that goes to waste. All that effort doesn’t get the appreciation and recognition it should have. And this makes us doubt our work, our talent, our creativity and this lowers our confidence.
And it is not only the artists who are slowly forgetting that a good artwork doesn’t appear in a blink of an eye but also the spectators. People these days set deadlines for the artists to complete their unrealistic work. Deadlines are important, yes. But when you are working on something which requires you to see things in a way different from what everyone else sees. Where you have to let your mind wander and thoughts run wild. You cannot work with the constant fear of that “soon approaching deadline” in the back of your mind.
When it comes to creative work, you cannot work without patience. It is a necessity. If you start becoming patient with your art, you’ll give it the time to bloom on its own. This will motivate you and encourage you to work better as well!
Kritika
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Really art needs patience.
Absolutely arts require patience. We must use technology but shouldn’t depend on it completely.
Very amazing article 👏