“Don’t Wait.”

Anne Bogart, theatre director, used to tell us this when we were working on pieces under her supervision.

She had a bias toward action that made sense.

The only way to actually make anything was to literally make it.

Thinking it through, planning it out, carefully working through details — those could be actions. But to her, it seemed to me, there was nothing like just going and doing it to force questions, make evaluations useful, and see what there really is.

Since then I’ve discovered other expressions of it as well.

Act now and ask for forgiveness later.

Bias for action.

Share early and often.

Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

But lately, waiting has become important. And understanding when and where to wait before not waiting.

Think of it as the hunter who finds the spot where the game will come, readies himself, loads, and then, when the stag comes within striking distance takes his shot and makes a clean and fast kill.

It might be minutes of waiting. It might be hours. It could even be days.

But he waits.

He waits with faith and conviction that the way he has chosen is right and will bear fruit.

It takes just as much bravery (maybe more) as the artist who stands on the bare stage and moves suddenly and with insistence to make a moment that is HERE and NOW.