Puttering Around

 A lot of what doctoral studies means to me is a kind of proverbial "puttering around"; that is, exploring the contours of different theories to seek connections and new questions. Sometimes nothing appears to be happening on the surface, and at that point, it is necessary to simply write. In fact, this is one of the pieces of advice I was given in my Proseminar Course by a former colleague in education who completed the program: namely, getting into the habit of writing simply for the sake of writing, even if it doesn't appear to be coming together.
   There is something quite amazing about this: recognizing that, in the process of doing something, there is something that is actually in you that just hasn't surfaced. And, in addition, there is a corollary point to this, and that is, we should have faith in our own ability to surface important things, which requires an attitude of surrender to that process.
   The balance between exploration and writing is such a delicate one, and I think I am slowly having to learn to see that there will be good days and bad days!