I love it when that happens, and it happened yesterday for what seems like the first time in a very long time. I've had a very intense couple of weeks drafting a long chapter for my dissertation. It involved a lot of concept mapping, coloured markers, outlining, and crumpled bits of paper. And a lot of staring at a blank screen wondering why it's not more obvious to me. Knowing better than to wait for everything to be crystal clear, I started writing anyway. A few days ago, I was almost finished and very tempted to throw a few thoughts down and send it out, just to be done with it for a while. My eyes were twitching from fatigue, so I thought it best not to make any rash moves. I contained myself and decided to sleep on it instead.
It was a terrible sleep - unfortunate after a 15 hour day at the computer. I only ever half slept while the names of authors I'd been citing were flowing through my mind, thinking about what I was drawing from each of their works. I fully woke up with a jolt very early in the morning and the ideas seemed to be spilling out the top of my head. I rushed to my desk and quickly caught them on a piece of paper before making my much needed first cup of coffee. Things that I had been struggling with suddenly seemed so clear.
I started reading the few papers I had been meaning to re-read. They were about concepts I've been using for years, so this was just meant to be a refresher, but that's when the light bulb went on. It was all new again, and my synapses were putting the pieces together in entirely new ways. It is amazing to me how things become so familiar that I can forget or overlook them when another concept takes over, but reading one article or even one sentence can remind me of the old idea and show how they all fit together. Even a simple rephrasing - reading someone else's take on things - can be huge. They may not be saying anything I haven't read over and over again, but different words put the mundane into a whole new perspective and help me to connect the dots.
It was a terrible sleep - unfortunate after a 15 hour day at the computer. I only ever half slept while the names of authors I'd been citing were flowing through my mind, thinking about what I was drawing from each of their works. I fully woke up with a jolt very early in the morning and the ideas seemed to be spilling out the top of my head. I rushed to my desk and quickly caught them on a piece of paper before making my much needed first cup of coffee. Things that I had been struggling with suddenly seemed so clear.
I started reading the few papers I had been meaning to re-read. They were about concepts I've been using for years, so this was just meant to be a refresher, but that's when the light bulb went on. It was all new again, and my synapses were putting the pieces together in entirely new ways. It is amazing to me how things become so familiar that I can forget or overlook them when another concept takes over, but reading one article or even one sentence can remind me of the old idea and show how they all fit together. Even a simple rephrasing - reading someone else's take on things - can be huge. They may not be saying anything I haven't read over and over again, but different words put the mundane into a whole new perspective and help me to connect the dots.
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