Recently I have begun to feel bad for constantly writing about my PhD journey on this blog. It would be ok if there are interesting stories associated with it but for most of the time, nothing much that happens, except (hopefully) for the gradual titration of writing. The process is extremely internal and singular, akin to a marathon whereby the competitor is yourself. It is an arduos and self-absorbed journey that takes its toll quietly and surreptitiously as each day drips by. I can’t really talk about it with anyone because no one else quite understands it. I am the expert of the work and it is up to me to lay it out, filling the pages.
I guess it is not all that bad. While the writing can be slow some days, I am actually making some interesting realisations along the way; thinking that has eluded me so far but somehow, with a different mindset and perhaps some intellectual maturity/confidence, I am able to be more incisive about what it is that I am doing, its contributions, the flaws (or what I might do differently if I were to do this again) and what are some ways forwards with this work.
Meanwhile I distract myself by spending some time looking for work and talking to a few people who are much more connected with potential ‘employers’. Here is pure escapism as I dream of working in a land far far away from Australia.
Categories: PhD
Tagged: dissertation, lonely, PhD, self-presentation, singular
I was reflecting on this blog while walking into the city tonight to meet my friends for dinner and I suddenly chuckled when I remembered that this blog was to chronicle my adventures in the UK, Europe and now life back in Australia. While tales of my wanderings have kinda fitted in with the blog, the entries since I came back had more of the ‘doldrums of PhD’. Has life stopped becoming an adventure after one’s overseas trip is finished? Was it an adventure because I was not in the country I ‘normally’ live in and now that I am back, so too the adventure? Ah…the predictable tangent of a PhD-soaked brain-never fail with the questions and analysis.
But it is a stretch if I were to chronicle my daily routine as an adventure. However if I can try and frame it in a more interesting and creative way, say perhaps sketching my writing up process more like a ’struggle of life and death with an enemy’ or even through the genre of a detective story, whereby the protaganist is trying to solve the mystery of the PhD despite great obstacles, a tale that is filled with unexpected twists and turns. Perhaps that might even make the actual gruelling (and thankless) process more engaging.
Ah, the things we (PhD students) do just to waste more time 
Categories: PhD
Tagged: adventure, dissertation, PhD, thesis
