From 2am until 7am I had a series of fitful dreams about my dissertation. I also had dreams of men on horseback and bagpipes playing. Oddly enough, I redeveloped a few chapters over the course of those five hours. I also changed words. For example, I'm no longer looking at "changes", but "the evolution of XY and Z". Blah, blah, blah. What goes in must come out. I now have a verifiable input and output. I think I'm pretty snazzy for this. My subconscious mind told me that the word "evolution" sounds smarter. I like the metaphor. The goal of the day is to remember all of this and write it down when I get home from Hebrew class tonight.
Funny how the mind never sleeps...and the dissertation is like a crying child that must be fed at any hour, day or night.
And my head hurts.
2 comments:
Not dreams. Nightmares N. And changes. More ambiguous than 'evolution'. The latter is too easy for some pedant to take all too literally and ask fitfully, 'well then what is this evolving to, or from?' 'And why?' Ambiguity. Always good in an academic context. You Suggest evolution. But not require it or describe it too fully. That would represent the sand trap. Describe this evolution a bit better, take some liberties, and feel free to call it a tank trap. Useful for certain things, but not others. And always pointing in one direction & attacking a certain position or defending another.
The baby always cries in the night. Sometimes they need feeding. Sometimes changing. Sometimes rocking. Sometimes it's a mystery until dawn arrives, and they've achieved their objective of seemingly preventing you from getting your usual 3-4 hours. The baby needs tending to. Slightly more ambiguous, no less accurate.
So always remember. Ambiguity can and should be your friend. Especially here & now. Where the real vultures gather waiting for the stray flesh to reveal itself so close to the bone & close to 'home'. Cheers & Good Luck! 'VJ'
Total empathy, strange dissertation dreams, and my head hurts too...
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