Waiting is important for personal growth, but our society of instant gratification doesn't give us much chance to practice it effectively. The heroes in Tolkien's works often had to undergo long periods of waiting for their destiny, or doom as it's referred to by Tolkien, to take hold. Tuor in "The Fall of Gondolin" endures many years of hardship in enslavement and loneliness in the wild until he is prompted by Ulmo to seek out the hidden city. Aragorn was told by Elrond in Appendix A of The LOTR, "Many years of trial lie before you. You shall neither have wife, nor bind any woman to you in troth, until your time comes and you are found worthy of it."
Enduring long periods of desolation and hardship patiently are common themes in Tolkien's Legendarium. Tolkien himself waited patiently to marry Edith and waited patiently for WWI to end, among other periods of waiting in his life. We have all experienced periods in our lives in which we wait for the next big thing to happen. We often find solace in distractions, chiefly technology. Aragorn, however, didn't have a TV or social media. He passed the long years by bettering himself and testing his limits. Tuor played his harp until he mastered it and he thrived in the harsh wilderness. These heroes ensured they were ready for the arrival of their doom so they would be, "found worthy of it."
No matter how hard we try to control our lives or dooms, we all end up waiting for our opportunities to present themselves. I believe we would be wise to wait actively. Like Aragorn, Tuor and even Tolkien, the ideal way to wait is to prepare. Do not let the years you could be bettering yourself slip away because you were too entranced by modern technological distractions.
-Vairë
3 comments:
Hi Vairë,
Thank you so much for your post. I very much appreciate your thoughtfulness, openness, and honesty. I agree with you that waiting and having patience is very important for personal growth, but in today's society, patience is a trait many of us lack with more advanced and fast technologies on the rise. In Tolkien's literature, he often does include long periods of waiting. Yes, we can see this in Lord of the Rings, but this was also made very clear in the Silmarillion. Even the story of Beren and Luthien's love takes place over a long period of time, and within this love story, Tolkien even ponders a timeless eternity. Maybe this story was inspired by how long Tolkien himself waited for his wife, Edith. Regardless, through Tolkien's works, we can learn a lot about the importance of waiting and patience.
-Melian
Very nicely said my friend. I also agree with you. Waiting is one of those things that you must weigh carefully and decide on what to wait for and what to go after right away. There are many things that are good that come out of waiting patiently for the time to come and then act on it. But waiting can also hinder you in the long run as well. One example is to never let time slip by to tell someone the way you actually feel inside. An apology left unsaid because of waiting may never get the chance to be delivered. Doing something you want to do may never happen if you constantly wait too long. Decide with your heart sometimes and not your mind for your mind will always come up with a thousand excuses not to do what you feel like you need to. So patience is a virtue but waiting can also be a curse as well.
What a complicated subject, but I think you have tackled it very well. I think perhaps patience is something very akin to ethics, because there is great divide about it. Adding in the aspect of modernity especially makes it complex. It sort of makes me think of the Hamilton Musical, the whole debate between Burr and Hamilton about waiting. If you havent already, take a gander at Wait for It, I think it touches partially on the argument you made above.
Because I love to play devil's advocate, I will point out that patience can be taken as a sign of self-doubt/hesitation that can have a great impact on important decisions. It is not a balanced assumption to say that acting without waiting is impulsiveness, since there are many circumstances in life in which humans are forced to act with haste and they are still informed decisions
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