These have been my aims over the last week - keep plugging away at the conclusion to my thesis and don’t have a meltdown. I am aware that this time last year was when everything started to go haywire, in the weeks before I started this blog, up to the early posts here which have an edge of desperation I can see now with my 20-20 hindsight. This time of year isn’t easy - the heavily structured part of the academic calendar starts giving way, and while I technically have more time I know how much I have to achieve and how hard it sometimes is to organise. So yes, all I can do is what is stated in the title.
I am edging closer to finishing my PhD. Sometimes it feels too slow. Other times it feels far too fast. Either way, I can see the end in sight and the key to the door is this frustrating little (compared to the four substantive chapters) document that I am writing a little at a time. I tell myself that the next few months won’t be easy, but they are possible if I keep myself in good condition and don’t melt down. I cook proper meals and try to take pleasure in them. I walk to work on fairly minor pretexts, getting built-in exercise, taking chances for interaction while such chances are easily had. On work-at-home days such as today I try to walk for the sake of it: today, this involved going to the local park and watching some ducks, and coincidentally running into a friend who I hadn’t seen for a very long time. I make big plans with Ducki and negotiate small obstacles. I maintain my sanity at home in small ways such as knitting, painting my nails and reading fiction of a genre that involves murder and the inner workings of steam trains. And by writing this blog. I try my utmost to sleep each night and get up each morning at functional times. And I write a few more words of my conclusion and get a step closer to one of my major goals.
