It sounds like a simple problem, but being caught in a rut can be such a harrowing experience. It's not just the question of "Am I getting anywhere?" It's the fear that everything you've done has gotten you to a place where you can't get anywhere else. It's feeling trapped. The thought that you're living life in an endless loop without a break in the action.

I think of that when I watch this music video. Tel Aviv's Jane Bourdeaux created this video for their song "Ma'agalim" and it's gorgeous. It shows a lonely figure in a music box walking down a bucolic country road. Time passes, people age, and people even die in her tiny little town, but that's all she sees. The beauty in the scene gives way to a kind of sadness at the idea that this is all there is. The lyrics bear that out perfectly:

Nights turn into days Days turn into years And among them I was going faster in circles Winds are blowing on me Blow on the back of my neck Everything seems too far too big I'm not moving forward It's the time that drifts away This is another passing train It's a further tightening rope (knot) Sunrises sinking fast As more seasons pass And I stay the same in this shortening time (x2) I'm not moving forward It's the time that drifts away This is another passing train It's a further tightening rope (knot)

By the end of the video, there's some catharsis, though it's bittersweet. The music box breaks, and the world stretches out into the dark unknown. Maybe it's the end. Or maybe it's the beginning of something new.