Process, Patience and Promise
Technology’s role in humanity’s evolution should not stop us from having faith and freedom in our own
👋🏼 Hey, I’m Joanna! I’m an advisor and consultant sharing insights and ideas relating to democracy, wellbeing, AI, culture, spiritualism and the human condition…read on if this has piqued your interest.
News update:
This particular newsletter marks an occasion — it’s my 20th contribution to The Breakout Room. This publication is now read across 12 US states and 14 countries. I want to thank you for reading and engaging with my work and allowing me to grace a space within you email inbox!
There is meaning to be found in waiting. But technology’s ability to bypass the waiting process can make us feel that it’s worthless. Why slow down when we can speed up and skip the “burden” of waiting for a website to load, a program to function or a question to be answered? What’s the point of it all?
I’ve wrestled with this conundrum, having previously written about how the act of striving becomes the very essence of meaning, and I’ve been thinking a lot about patience lately as I wait – and at times, willed – for something to come through. Patience as a child feels different from practicing patience as an adult. As children, overthinking is a burden which (quite rightly) distracts us from play, pleasure and the promise of all creative possibilities.
As adults we overthink because we’ve been conditioned and educated to, despite it being largely unhelpful and certainly unenjoyable. In this constricted, anxious state we attempt to control and hurry up the process, break out of our patience and fear that a promise won’t ever be realised. By doing so, we slow things down. A tightened fist, after all, won’t be able to catch the ball like an animated outstretched hand will.
Technology, through its yes/no on/off state, emphasises our adult approach to patience over the more helpful childlike approach. Technology can hinder the potential of a promise coming into existence, yet it also offers the opportunity of making it happen quicker and more easily. Because of this very reason it lacks the nuance which enables the transition from process to patience to promise to occur. Nuance itself is a promise; a way of seeing from another person’s perspective, learning why they think the way they do. A consensus can be created through nuance, and that in itself guarantees promise.
Nature’s version of waiting is a far cry from that of technology’s. Unlike the workings of technology, which is invisible to the naked eye and whirls its mechanisms into motion in silence, nature’s colourful visibility in the waiting process provides a whisper and sign of what’s to come. The bud of a rose. A browning of a leaf. A twinkle of a star. Nature’s process is one which we inherently trust in because it’s reliable (minus the impact of climate change) whereas technology’s process is, by default, highly unpredictable, invisible and incomprehensible to the average person. Because of this, I can’t help but wonder if human’s relatively new relationship to technology and reliance upon it has weakened our faith in the very human stages of process, patience and promise that humanity has been taught through the rhythm and cycles of nature.
Whilst we wait, we are aware through our senses of what is occurring around us and what could happen around us. This is easily identifiable when we are with others, where process and patience can be felt, observed and mirrored in the company we keep. Process, patience and the promise of something is inherently a survival instinct; to know that we are making progress, we have to identify it in some form, like watching a toddler make its first step. This is why many of us feel so frustrated with the internet when we are waiting around for something to happen online, and especially when it is the only way certain things can happen.
Whilst reading Amy Odell’s piece on how fashion brands are preparing for ‘The Great Exhaustion’ of 2026’ and how some us will fantasise about throwing our phones into the sea, “so overburdened did you feel by email, Slack, texts, spam calls, social media” I was struck by how digital distraction is causing our exhaustion, physically, spiritually and socially.
Technology and the internet offer wonderful opportunities for humanity, but subconsciously there is a fear of the control it has over our lives. From the fear of an algorithm not showing our work, to the email that is left unread in a digital swamp full of many others, to the job application that is “processed” by a robot, this fear is real but not catastrophic.
Thinking of a brilliant friend of mine who has been trying to secure a new job after a year of burnout proves that we can all overcome obstacles and find opportunity in serendipitous moments. This friend, who has previously been profiled by Vogue (so isn’t the type of person you would think would struggle finding a job!), submitted 400 online job applications to no success. On a recent trip abroad however, she found herself speaking to someone and a short-term job opportunity arose.
Technology and digital distraction may feel that it has a lot of power and control over us and our circumstances, but the reality is that it doesn’t. The Universe has a powerful way of offering us joy and abundance, but we need to ensure that we pay attention to it when it comes up. This is something we have significant control over.
Our power comes through our attention and presence; the two most powerful qualities we can give to ourselves and others. Attention is focused awareness and energises what or who we are with. In contrast, half-focusing our attention and awareness will lead to half of the desired result, leaving us less rich, feeling more superficial and less satisfied.
Full focus taps into all of our senses, making us feel richer in presence and power. Through full engagement, process, patience and promise feel less hollow, more achievable, and more human. When we don’t give our best, fully show up or tune into every situation and circumstance we find ourselves in, we are essentially diluting the human experience for ourselves and others through our own lack of care and effort. That is why it is vital to always have faith in ourselves and to remain tapped into that faith, regardless of what challenges it.
We need to stop treating the stages of process and patience as if it’s a problem, a function that can be skipped over and dismissed into oblivion. Instead, we need to see that the actions we take during these stages will leave behind a trail of our energy, intentions and beliefs that will lead to the eventual outcome and move the promise to an actual possibility. When we look back on how we succeeded at something, we can observe that it was the energy, intentions and beliefs on the way to success that gave us the crucial forward momentum to get us to where we wanted to be.
Without process and patience, is the journey ever worth it? What worth is a journey without process, patience and promise? What values do we learn and embrace, how do they shape us and the world around us?
The quality of our own process, the energy of our patience and the nature of our promise is where the height of meaning is to be found. Elements which make us undeniably human and unique in our being.
Choosing to be patient and engaged is powerful - it connects us to meaningful human values and purpose.