Something about the mean, and other writing matters

As I’ve noted previously, good weeks are inevitably followed, sooner or later, by a not-so-good week, one closer to the average.
Reflecting one evening last week, it occurred to me that this is not as bad, or as random as it sounds. I can’t always perform at the top of my game, but I can keep making “average” better.
Even if my work week is only average, that’s a lot better than average of 30 years ago, when I started out. Even my average, needs-lots-of-work stuff is better written now. And my average week in my 20s involved a lot more staring at the walls and letting my mind wander rather than focusing on work.
In the same vein, an average week for a brilliant writer such as the late Jorge Luis Borges is more like “Wrote a brilliant story but not brilliant enough to win an award.” For Shakespeare it’s “Hmm, only a couple of dozen deathless quotes that people will remember for centuries in the new script.”
Over the long run, returning to the mean does not negate steady improvement and hard work.
While on vacation, I also stumbled across a guide for entrepreneurs in the Mensa book room (where we dump books that we don’t want to see if any fellow members are interested. For the record, I picked up one on journalism history and one on keeping fruits and veggies fresh). Since I am one, I started flipping through it and picked up a few useful thoughts.
•My career is going to ebb and flow (just as my output periodically returns to the mean). I may not like the ebbs, but I shouldn’t let them freak me out, or imagine I will never make a sale/pay my bills/write anything good again. My income has been lower than usual so far this year, but I am paying my bills, so I shouldn’t worry so much.
•When things are ebbing, switch to something else. If I can’t get a full roster of tech eHows done (and sometimes they are very slow going) focus on fiction or other projects to get more mileage out of my time.
•The question isn’t “can I do this?” but “how can I do this?”
•I need to remember I do what I do by choice. Because it’s fun. And if some of the jobs aren’t so entertaining (and worrying about money certainly isn’t), it’s still way more entertaining than any other job I’ve tried.
None of this is a new insight, but I think it’s what I needed to hear.