After I finished Sanderson’s Mistborn (the first book in the series) during a vacation, I went to the bookshop one Saturday to pick up the second and third books in the Mistborn trilogy. I have been in my Sanderson’s bubble for a while now since I watched his lectures about Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy at Brigham Young University, and I think I’ll be spending more time cuddling up with his books for the rest of the year!
I stepped into the bookshop confidently and enthusiastically, climbing the stairs to the first floor, where they have the Sci-Fi and Fantasy bookshelves—and stopped in front of the shelves where Sanderson’s should be displayed. It was supposed to be where I found them a month ago when I got my first Mistborn book, right? Wait. Why I couldn’t see anything from Sanderson? I took a deep breath and tried again. Maybe I was too excited. I scanned the shelves of writers… P, Q, R, S… yes, these are the fantasy authors with “S”. Schwab. Shannon. Smith. But no Sanderson? It couldn’t be right. I started again, further this time, just to be sure, from L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S…
I frowned. What happened? Why there was no Sanderson? Did they take his books out of the display? Was it because they are all sold out? Did they move it to the bottom rack? (I squatted and checked the hidden bottom rack, but found nothing). Did they not display it because they are some “old” series? Maybe the bookshop didn’t have enough display space, so perhaps they had them at their storage instead? This was quite strange because Sanderson was a big name in this genre. My thoughts were filled with questions, confusion, and speculations…
I stood there again, my eyes never leaving the racks—from top to bottom, left to right. I couldn’t be mistaken. I didn’t skip any lines or rows; the books were just not there. I gave myself another 10 minutes scanning the racks, then decided it might be time to give up, found a staff, and asked away. I sighed and turned around to wave a staff when I caught a separate rack called “SANDERSHELF”—full of Sanderson’s books! The rack was just there—right behind my back all these times, as I was desperately looking at his books on the colossal shelf where his books were previously displayed.
The staff, apparently, has moved all his books from the Sci-Fi and Fantasy rack and created a new shelf specifically for Sanderson’s books! I didn’t see or notice it because I was sure the books should be in the Sci-Fi and Fantasy rack as before. I was too fixated on finding the books there to even consider turning or walking around to see if I could find the book somewhere else (right behind my back, for instance).
I snatched the second and third Mistborn books immediately as if they would disappear otherwise, paid, and went to the small cafe inside the bookshop to have my mango smoothie. As I sat there, ready to flip the first page of the Well of Ascension book, it dawned on me.
Sometimes, we become so fixated on what’s right in front of us that we lose sight of anything else. We pour all our thoughts and energy into a single pursuit or problem, desperately trying to change or find something, only to grow increasingly frustrated and tempted to give up. It’s easy to feel disappointed and overwhelmed, convinced that the solution is right there… where we thought it would be, but somehow out of reach.
But perhaps what we truly need is to shift our gaze from what’s in front of us; to step back and look around with fresh eyes. By taking our gaze off and broadening our perspective, we may be surprised to discover that the answers we seek have been there all along, waiting patiently for us to notice them.
The world is vast and full of wonder, and sometimes, the most extraordinary breakthroughs come not from a laser-focused determination and struggle but from a willingness to pause, reflect, and see the landscape in a new light. So, the next time you find yourself consumed by a seemingly insurmountable challenge, you may want to take a deep breath, look around, and trust that the path forward may reveal itself when you least expect it. Because sometimes, you may find that what you seek has been waiting for you—right behind your back.