In a comment on my last post, my excellent friend Chubbic
has pretty much nailed my (our)
mental process, if anyone's curious. I have my reservations about
the way MBTI typing sometimes gets used, but this is as clear a
description of the way my thinking works as any I've read.
In light of some exchanges with classmates since
yesterday, I was prompted to open a running file of research ideas I
have kept since fall 2011. In this file I've jotted any topic I've come
across that struck me as something I might enjoy researching someday,
when I had the freedom to pursue it. The idea is that some of these
might germinate into articles, or even popular-level books. I've ignored
this list for long stretches, while trudging through valleys of
academic ennui. But glancing over it today (it's a little over a page
long, at this point), I felt a little more encouraged than
disillusioned, which itself is a hopeful sign. Even if most of these
never come to fruition, much less publication, it's heartening to think
that they haven't totally lost interest for me. Even if I don't go the
route of the traditional academic job, there are still some neat things I
could do after graduation. And just because my interest and creativity
and drive have been at a fairly low ebb over the past few years, that
doesn't mean it will always be this way.
No comments:
Post a Comment