Sobriquet 53.22
I spent the better part of the last five hours writing a single paragraph, straining to produce the words. Not surprisingly, I am not especially fond of what I have written, though I honestly do not know what more I could have done to make it any better. At any rate, I will have to content myself with having gotten something done, with the knowledge that I did not remain idle despite a tremendously powerful urge to wallow in ineffectual stasis. I suppose it did not help to start the day with yet another New York Times article highlighting the abysmal job market for humanities doctorates, but I tried to channel the anxiety that sparked into productivity. What ended up helping, in the end, was taking a long walk with the Minutemen, writing a bit of short fiction for the first time in far too long, and speaking with loved ones. Then, and only then, did I manage to write that tortured paragraph.
For tomorrow: Read or plan.
Comments
Perhaps now would be a good time to reflect on the benefits of the dissertation process taking longer than anticipated or desired:
1) You're doing your project your way and no one else's, and that is a good thing no matter how long it takes;
2) You're reinforcing a very solid lesson about taking time from work to enjoy more enjoyable leisure pursuits;
3) By the time you finish, the job market for your position could be much less bleak as economic factors may have improved by finishing time;
4) The longer it takes you, the longer I get to hang out with my nifty friend Erik before he moves far away to his dream job (ok, that's a selfish benefit for me).
I'm sure there are other reasons, but I'm running a tad late this morning and must be going, but there you have it...some good things about lengthy dissertationing.