Pacing, Part Deux: Hamster Wheels, Arrows, and Progress...

Since I focused on pacing in novels last time, this week I decided to hone in on pacing in life. Too often, people can feel like they're behind where they want to be, especially when things don't always turn out the way they're planned (or expected). Sometimes, this can feel like a hamster wheel--you work, and work, and work, but at the end of the day, it doesn't feel like you've gone much of anywhere. I felt this way a lot when I worked in academic libraries--it was very enjoyable work, but at the end of the day there was always more to be done.

Fast forward a few years, to now, when I'm circumstantially unemployed. Being unemployed has a fair number of disadvantages, of course, but one of them is the feeling of stepping backward in life. Suddenly, the career choices you made seem like they weren't actually useful, and it can often feel like having to build again from scratch.

Writers experience both of these. Published writers work their tails off only to be stuck in the midlist or, worse, see their books slowly dissolve out-of-print. And still, the hamster wheel goes. Or, with the loss of an agent, or a critique partner, or perhaps a draft that hasn't developed as much as was hoped, it can feel like a step backward.

As much as I'd like to offer solutions to both of these scenarios, I've realized that every problem, while it might look similar to someone else's, has its own form of clothing. Instead, I'd like to leave you with two memes that I found especially helpful. To everyone stuck on a hamster wheel, and anyone who has had to take a few steps backward down the stairwell, here are some memes for your Monday:

Courtesy of Barbara Lane

Arrow