There seems to be a fine line between being patient and seizing the right moment. I think it has to do with a cultivated sense of touch, and a well developed relationship to the body’s natural response to the world. I believe this is something that we can practice. It is something I am practicing. I’ll let you know what I find.

There is something intuitive or instinctual about knowing when to act or when to hold and observe. What my teachers have been modeling recently is the art and practice of developing instinctual vitality in the face of the world. I am learning that if I explore the way emotions sit in my body in different intensities, then I can not only recognize them when they emerge, but can express them in greater varying degrees in the face of varying moments of experience or interaction. These “emotional shapes” become a language that I can use to engage in the world.

I think about things in terms of language. I always have. Whether it is learning a foreign culture through a few words of the mother tongue, understanding the landscape of a new home by living through all four seasons, or the patterns of structure that are needed to hold up a roof, the language of a system holds deep secrets. It is not language itself in isolation, mind you. I have come to learn that the first step is to learn a bit of the “form” and the “grammar”, but the close in secrets lie in the application of language in real time. The mysteries are uncovered in subsequent opportunities and insights that come from immersion.

It is those insights that I can then translate into languages that I know already that make sense in other contexts. The more I spend time involved in, practicing and developing new language, the greater chance I have to make connections between people, organizations, and systems that at times can seem disparate, but I believe yearn for meaning and connection.

Back to the time question. Learning a language takes time. And knowing when to make those connections is equally important. I am still quite young in this process, though I am seeing more and more moments of refinement and agility in my life.

In times of fear and insecurity I use my linguistic gifts to show off and compensate for my own unsettled feelings. In service, when I can connect new ideas and connect people to new insights, I feel alive, not small. I feel the difference of a balanced practice between patience and action.

How do you know when its time to push or time to observe? For you, is listening embodied observation, or killing time before making the next statement?