Putting Pen to Paper

Well, gentle readers, I did it yesterday. I finally did it. I finally put pen to paper (or, in the age of the personal computer, fingers to keys) and began to write my dissertation. To be accurate, I began my dissertation proposal/prospectus. I had spent days, hours, weeks, coming up with reason after reason to do something else. I had a paper to write. I had a class to finish (or two). I had an NCA submission to work on. I had a job to look for. I had wedding things to do. I had a cat to feed. I had a workout I needed to get in. I had...I had...I had...and the list was (and would continue to be) endless.

I don't know exactly why people fail to complete their dissertations. It happens a LOT, more than non-academics realize. I think over the next year I'm going to discover, one way or another, some of the pressures, commitments, responsibilities, priorities, and reasons why people don't finish heir dissertations. My thought right now is that dissertations don't get finished because people are tired. They are tired of their research, their field, their subject, their school, being a student, ad nauseum. Sometimes I feel tired.

But today, today I don't feel tired. I feel like a guy who, just yesterday, started one of the coolest, most original, and valuable pieces of research he's ever done. I want to go to the office, put on a pot of coffee, Ben Folds, and type until my fingers ache!

M.D.S. AWAY!