Patience Is a Virtue

I recently watched the movie The Adjustment Bureau. I remember seeing the trailer and thinking that it looked really interesting. I was so impressed with this film. It was suspenseful, romantic and thought-provoking. As I was watching, I Googled to see if it had been based on a book. I found out that it had been inspired and loosely based on a short story called Adjustment Team. This short story was written by Philip K. Dick, a man who wrote forty four published novels and one hundred and twenty-one short stories. Although he wrote full-time, he never experienced much success during his lifetime and once said, “We couldn’t even pay the late fees on a library book.” However, nine movies (many blockbuster successes) have been based on his stories and films based on his works have accumulated over one billion dollars.

I’ve read numerous times that the mark of a real writer is someone who will write regardless of whether or not they receive any acclaim or success. Real writers are compelled to write. Philip K Dick was a real writer. He had patience and perseverance to write without much reward to keep him going. I find it inspiring and it helps me to cultivate some of the same patience and perseverance in my own writing life.

I have received many little messages from the universe lately. I am being haunted by yellow butterflies. They are everywhere. I’m not sure who it is, but I’m paying attention. I also have been upset about not being called for interviews yet and being impatient about waiting to see where I am going to land with regards to a teaching job. I told my mom last night that I’m having a hard time understanding why others are getting jobs and I am not. I’m struggling to not take it personally and stay positive and hopeful.

I realize that this isn’t unlike waiting to hear from an editor or an agent about a manuscript for months, years or never at all. I read two essays in daily meditations books for July 7th about patience. I became less frustrated about waiting because those essays resonated as omens that I need to take a deep breath and surrender.

I also have been compelled to find out about Philip K. Dick since I watched that movie. After some research, I found out that he is buried in Fort Morgan, Colorado with his twin sister Jane who died when they were six weeks old. I also feel led to go to his grave site for some reason. I think I have an appreciation for his desire to write and feel I need to bear witness in some way that is deeper than just reading his words. I told my friend this a week ago and I said, “I want to look for his grave, but it could take hours to cull through and I still might not find it.” My friend said there might be a directory, which is possible, but it felt like I would be looking for a needle in a haystack.

Tonight as I was preparing for this post, I entered Philip K Dick in Google to look for a nice picture to include. I scanned through pages of photographs, but kept coming back to the one I inserted at the top. I finally decided that I was coming back to this one over and over for a reason and clicked on it.

To my surprise, the picture linked me to a website that gave me the exact plot location of his grave.

I love synchronicity of any kind, but this felt very powerful. I’m definitely going to Fort Morgan soon to pay my respects. I am also working on practicing patience.