Missing Virtue & A Future Tattoo

D'you see that symbol?

The one on the right.

Yeah, that one.

It's the Chinese symbol for Patience.

I need to print a giant poster-sized version of it and hang it in my makeshift office here in the house. Or maybe I should tattoo it on my left wrist. The one on my right seems to be working out so far*...

There is no question in my mind that I am, by far, the most impatient person I know.

I want instant reactions, instant acceptance and instant gratification.

None of this wait two weeks, let me think about it and you'll thank yourself later bullshit.

I'd much rather thank myself right now or not thank myself at all thank you very much.

Problem is I have no control on the world.

Being a writer - and one just on the cusp of some success - makes the patience problem even more pronounced because no one ever gets back to you right away, about anything.

Story pitches sit in email Inboxes for days on end, as do assignments submitted in advance of deadlines. People must think keeners have busy lives and responding to their early submissions can wait because they're busy doing something else long before it's due...

WRONG!

We're sitting here wondering why in the hell it's taken you so long to get back to us with some feedback, seeing as we got you what you were looking for a week before you had asked us to.

Job applications don't even get looked at until after the competition closes and that's usually at least a week away.

And don't even get me started on Passion Magazine, who have once again taken the summer off to drive me totally insane by refusing to return emails and keep me abreast of where things stand editorially.

Patience is one virtue I certainly don't have. Good thing I doubled up on humility...
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* tune in tomorrow for the full story. See how I'm doing that? Keeping y'all who don't know coming back for more... Tricky huh?