Here’s a gritty story of a man’s spiritual metamorphosis. As the world begins to shut down in the face of a pandemic, Ian — a well-worn yoga teacher and Zen student — wavers as he stands at the precipice of his life, attempting to accept the gift of self-examination while burying the pieces of his painful past. In Waiting Impatiently by Andrew H. Housley, we experience the birth and process of self-transformation found through the catalyst of sorrow and lost love. Through Ian’s journey, we are offered the uniquely poignant perspective of a man’s internal struggle with Self. In a desperate moment, he arrives at the Monastery, a place where time stands still. Here, he finds solace to soothe his soul and to meditate on the Zen riddle, “can you manifest your true nature while staring at the pieces of your broken heart?”