The Pigeon and the Statue Idiom

There’s a phrase that’s been rattling around in my head lately: “Sometimes you’re the pigeon, sometimes you’re the statue.” This is a phrase my mom always used to explain difficulties in life. In fact, she still uses it today. As she explains it, “sometimes you get sh*tted on, sometimes you do the sh*ttin”. It’s one of those sayings that sounds almost flippant at first, but the more time I spend in the working world, the more I realize just how accurate it is.

If you’ve never heard it before, the idea is simple. Some days you’re the pigeon—flying high, calling the shots, maybe even causing a little chaos. Other days, you’re the statue—standing there, exposed, taking whatever comes your way. And in my experience, work has a particular way of cycling between these two extremes with zero warning. It can be very humbling.

Last week, I was the statue. Some projects I’d poured hours into got picked apart and I had a host of new tasks added with what seemed to be little support. Feedback came from every direction, much of it contradictory, and suddenly I was fielding criticism for decisions I didn’t even make. I left that night feeling like I’d been pelted from all sides, wondering why I even bothered trying so hard. The effort I’d put in seemed invisible, but the perceived shortcomings? Those were on full display.

Then Friday rolled around. Same job, same desk, but somehow I was the pigeon. A presentation I’d been nervous about landed perfectly. The work I thought might go unnoticed got genuine recognition. Problems that seemed insurmountable last Friday suddenly had clear solutions. It wasn’t that I’d suddenly become more competent overnight—it was just the way things aligned.

Here’s what I’m learning from this maddening cycle: the statue days aren’t always a reflection of your abilities, and the pigeon days aren’t always earned. Sometimes it’s timing. Sometimes it’s politics. Sometimes it’s just the mood of whoever’s evaluating your work that day. The expectations placed on us can shift like sand, and what was celebrated last month becomes a problem this month.

That’s a hard pill to swallow when you’re someone who shows up and tries to do good work. You want to believe that consistent effort leads to consistent results, that being under-appreciated is the exception rather than the rule. But the reality is messier. Some weeks you’ll carry the weight of unrealistic expectations and wonder why you’re the only one who seems to notice the goalposts keep moving. Other weeks, you’ll catch a break you didn’t expect and wonder if you actually deserved it.

The uncomfortable truth? Both days are part of the deal. The wins and losses, the recognition and the criticism, the days when everything clicks and the days when nothing does—they’re all woven into the same career fabric. Resisting that reality only makes the statue days hurt more.

So what’s the silver lining here? Maybe it’s this: when you’re the statue, remember that pigeons don’t fly forever. When you’re the pigeon, stay humble because you’ll be back on that pedestal soon enough. The emotional roller coaster is exhausting, but it’s also proof that nothing stays the same. The bad days pass. So do the good ones.

The goal isn’t to avoid being the statue—that’s impossible. The goal is to not let those days define your worth or convince you that the effort doesn’t matter. Because on the days when you’re the pigeon, you’ll be glad you didn’t give up when things felt impossibly hard.

Some days you get hit. Some days you soar. Most days, you’re somewhere in between, just trying to show up and do your best with whatever hand you’re dealt. And honestly? That’s enough.