I'm officially so cranially engaged I started losing moments of my day to a point where I apparently moved an object from the top shelf of the closet to my bed at some point during the day and have ABSOLUTELY no recollection of physically doing it. When I walked into my bedroom later in the afternoon yesterday and saw this item on the bed my first thought was "oh my god was someone in here??!!" After my heartbeat slowed down following this incredibly creepy thought, I reasoned that "no, I've been here all day and heard nothing out of the ordinary so I must have taken it down from the shelf at some point earlier in the day".
To balance this detached-head syndrome, yesterday it dawned on me how important it is to, at some point during the day, preferably multiple times a day, just be in my body. I've devised a couple excellent tactics: the first is doing yoga, intense and fiery Ashtanga in the wee hours of the morning and calm, cooling yin prior to bedtime, breathing and just being mindful of the energy and feelings within the body. The second tactic is a day time one I've taken to, of taking a dance break (stolen from Tina Fey on 30 Rock) at which time I chose two of my favourite glee soundtrack songs and dance like an asshole. I'm hoping to do this more in the coming days to keep myself "here" as much as possible.
This Sunday I started working on paper #2 which is the theory/research methods paper. It is most certainly more challenging to make an entertaining read on these kinds of topics than on topics that include politically charged real-life examples of things. Also, it is most difficult to avoid writing something that regurgitates the theories of old from the writings of others (ie. to actually be creative and have an original thought). This week I have found that one must simply trust in the intellectual process. Reading and reading and getting "theoried out", as one friend describes it, will eventually lead to some creative and original conclusions but they cannot be forced. Realizing that this is how I've been approaching academic writing for the last few years but finally having articulated what my writing process is.The work of reading and writing things out in a manner that seems trite, unoriginal, and disconnected, accompanied by thoughtful and intentional reflection will tend to always result in something you can be proud of, that you have integrated ideas in way that no one else has before. Although they may be small insights, they add to the larger theory puzzle.
How cozy a day to be cooped up in my festive christmas-y apartment while the remnants of a tropical storm is lightly battering Vancouver today.
To balance this detached-head syndrome, yesterday it dawned on me how important it is to, at some point during the day, preferably multiple times a day, just be in my body. I've devised a couple excellent tactics: the first is doing yoga, intense and fiery Ashtanga in the wee hours of the morning and calm, cooling yin prior to bedtime, breathing and just being mindful of the energy and feelings within the body. The second tactic is a day time one I've taken to, of taking a dance break (stolen from Tina Fey on 30 Rock) at which time I chose two of my favourite glee soundtrack songs and dance like an asshole. I'm hoping to do this more in the coming days to keep myself "here" as much as possible.
This Sunday I started working on paper #2 which is the theory/research methods paper. It is most certainly more challenging to make an entertaining read on these kinds of topics than on topics that include politically charged real-life examples of things. Also, it is most difficult to avoid writing something that regurgitates the theories of old from the writings of others (ie. to actually be creative and have an original thought). This week I have found that one must simply trust in the intellectual process. Reading and reading and getting "theoried out", as one friend describes it, will eventually lead to some creative and original conclusions but they cannot be forced. Realizing that this is how I've been approaching academic writing for the last few years but finally having articulated what my writing process is.The work of reading and writing things out in a manner that seems trite, unoriginal, and disconnected, accompanied by thoughtful and intentional reflection will tend to always result in something you can be proud of, that you have integrated ideas in way that no one else has before. Although they may be small insights, they add to the larger theory puzzle.
How cozy a day to be cooped up in my festive christmas-y apartment while the remnants of a tropical storm is lightly battering Vancouver today.
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