This prompt offers such a useful, concrete practice through which our writing can grow us as human beings. If we invest ourselves fully in the process, it really can make us braver (among other things). Thanks, Jo! 🙏
I definitely love this. I've come to see that what we tend to label negatively as "weird" is exactly what makes our own thought process unique. I say the weirder, the better! It's what academia (and the world) needs right now.
I’m with you 100% on that one, Leslie! Why become an academic at all if our commitment to creating new knowledge doesn’t extend to finding new ways to write about it? (But in saying that, I have to acknowledge all the ways in which the academic status quo directs us toward disciplinary obedience rather than, in Michelle’s word, rebellion!)
There was a phase during my PhD thesis write-up when a little niggle of doubt grew and grew and eventually turned into a full-blown crisis of confidence. I finally confessed to my supervisors...I had nothing to say! Everything that came out of the interviews confirmed just what I’d expected. It was all so self-evident...except, as they pointed out to me calmly and kindly, it wasn’t. At least, maybe it was to me, because (as they pointed out) I had lived and breathed this topic for years by then. Yes, it made complete sense. No, it wasn’t self-evident. What seemed obvious to me was a new idea to others, otherwise we would have had a better system already and I would have had a different PhD topic. So, yes, sometimes what we avoid is something someone else needs to know about.
Wow, Pam, last night on the WINDOWS session you said just what I needed to hear, and today you've done it again! What you describe is exactly my struggle with my current project, although this one is only 12 months long so I haven't lived and breathed it for any length of time. But I also feel as though I am absolutely not coming up with anything new, everything I find out in the interviews is stuff that's obvious and expected, and if I ever write it up, everyone will just roll their eyes and say 'of course, what else did you think would happen??'
Thank you for posting this here today. I am glad I came across the post (I had that moment during our session yesterday) and your comment. <3
Pam and Vanessa, it’s wonderful to see two readers of #AcWriMoments continuing a conversation that started a day or two earlier in the WriteSPACE Live Writing Studio. That’s the kind of cross-fertilisation that Margy and I were hoping for when we launched this 30 day series.
Yes Helen, it really is a cross-fertilisation: I found out about #AcWriMoments through the Productivity Catalyst, and here we are commenting on a prompt I (unknowingly) put into practice during Monday's WINDOWS session. Pam has been a bit of a guardian angel of my writing and ideas generating confidence these past two days!
Thanks so much for this comment, Vanessa. Sorry there’s been such a delay in replying - “life” escalated for a while there, as life does. That was such an interesting breakout-room discussion. When your book comes out, with whatever title you choose, I want to read it - sounds fascinating!
So, so true! Everything I read seems so self-evident, and I marvel at how I can contribute to the conversation. I'm finding the loopholes, but with it come the daunting task of how do I say what I feel needs to shared, and feel like it's worth sharing...
My favorite part of this prompt is the rebellion in it. I think that's the part that gets so easily lost after going through the process of professional socialization in grad school--we're so eager to please and impress that being raucous starts to feel to risky. Thank you Jo, for pulling our rebel back into our writing!
That is definitely what I was going for! An interesting that rebellion is often rewarded by the very same institution that made you feel like it wasn't allowed. Or maybe it just reveals that there are a lot of different things going on in academia and the people trying to get you to conform are not the whole institution.
yesssssss, exactly! It's so hard not to get caught up in the fearful interpretation, because writing is so high stakes. I wish I could remember which writing coach talks about "Alternate Academias" and how we have to build the one that supports us. Your post reminds us of how these alternatives aren't just possible, but also necessary.
Wow – this prompt really feels like yet another sign from the universe to write about something I have been afraid to do for years now. I have been digging into the hidden fears behind my reluctance and am starting to see how they are the result of literally decades of negative experiences that have made me feel like I need to shrink and hide parts of myself so that others don’t feel uncomfortable. However, I am finally starting to pluck up the courage to embark on this work, and recently put down my first few lines on the topic – it still felt scary but satisfying at the same time. I am also inspired by the potential that may result from embracing what the late Irish writer and theologian, John O’Donohue calls our “wild energies” in the quote below from his book “Walking in Wonder”.
"One of the sad things today is that so many people are frightened by the wonder of their own presence. They are dying to tie themselves into a system, a role, or to an image, or to a predetermined identity that other people have settled on for them. This identity may be totally at variance with the wild energies rising inside their souls. Many of us become afraid and we eventually compromise. We settle for something safe, rather than engaging the danger and wildness in our own hearts."
"When you tell yourself that your research is weird, you don’t give it the time, energy, and respect it deserves."
This is what I've been struggling with... not that it's "weird" per se, but that it's obvious, at least to me! I know it's important, and the literature is glowing with loopholes, but how do I share what I feel needs to be shared? I really love this quote from the prompt! I even feel like I need to blow it up and have it in my workspace to remind me! Thank you, Jo! 🙏🩵💫🙈
Yes! Mindful growth so often requires bravery, doesn’t it?
This prompt offers such a useful, concrete practice through which our writing can grow us as human beings. If we invest ourselves fully in the process, it really can make us braver (among other things). Thanks, Jo! 🙏
I definitely love this. I've come to see that what we tend to label negatively as "weird" is exactly what makes our own thought process unique. I say the weirder, the better! It's what academia (and the world) needs right now.
I’m with you 100% on that one, Leslie! Why become an academic at all if our commitment to creating new knowledge doesn’t extend to finding new ways to write about it? (But in saying that, I have to acknowledge all the ways in which the academic status quo directs us toward disciplinary obedience rather than, in Michelle’s word, rebellion!)
There was a phase during my PhD thesis write-up when a little niggle of doubt grew and grew and eventually turned into a full-blown crisis of confidence. I finally confessed to my supervisors...I had nothing to say! Everything that came out of the interviews confirmed just what I’d expected. It was all so self-evident...except, as they pointed out to me calmly and kindly, it wasn’t. At least, maybe it was to me, because (as they pointed out) I had lived and breathed this topic for years by then. Yes, it made complete sense. No, it wasn’t self-evident. What seemed obvious to me was a new idea to others, otherwise we would have had a better system already and I would have had a different PhD topic. So, yes, sometimes what we avoid is something someone else needs to know about.
Wow, Pam, last night on the WINDOWS session you said just what I needed to hear, and today you've done it again! What you describe is exactly my struggle with my current project, although this one is only 12 months long so I haven't lived and breathed it for any length of time. But I also feel as though I am absolutely not coming up with anything new, everything I find out in the interviews is stuff that's obvious and expected, and if I ever write it up, everyone will just roll their eyes and say 'of course, what else did you think would happen??'
Thank you for posting this here today. I am glad I came across the post (I had that moment during our session yesterday) and your comment. <3
Pam and Vanessa, it’s wonderful to see two readers of #AcWriMoments continuing a conversation that started a day or two earlier in the WriteSPACE Live Writing Studio. That’s the kind of cross-fertilisation that Margy and I were hoping for when we launched this 30 day series.
Yes Helen, it really is a cross-fertilisation: I found out about #AcWriMoments through the Productivity Catalyst, and here we are commenting on a prompt I (unknowingly) put into practice during Monday's WINDOWS session. Pam has been a bit of a guardian angel of my writing and ideas generating confidence these past two days!
Thanks so much for this comment, Vanessa. Sorry there’s been such a delay in replying - “life” escalated for a while there, as life does. That was such an interesting breakout-room discussion. When your book comes out, with whatever title you choose, I want to read it - sounds fascinating!
So, so true! Everything I read seems so self-evident, and I marvel at how I can contribute to the conversation. I'm finding the loopholes, but with it come the daunting task of how do I say what I feel needs to shared, and feel like it's worth sharing...
My favorite part of this prompt is the rebellion in it. I think that's the part that gets so easily lost after going through the process of professional socialization in grad school--we're so eager to please and impress that being raucous starts to feel to risky. Thank you Jo, for pulling our rebel back into our writing!
That is definitely what I was going for! An interesting that rebellion is often rewarded by the very same institution that made you feel like it wasn't allowed. Or maybe it just reveals that there are a lot of different things going on in academia and the people trying to get you to conform are not the whole institution.
yesssssss, exactly! It's so hard not to get caught up in the fearful interpretation, because writing is so high stakes. I wish I could remember which writing coach talks about "Alternate Academias" and how we have to build the one that supports us. Your post reminds us of how these alternatives aren't just possible, but also necessary.
Rebellion, yes - but this prompt also asks us to push the boundaries of our own comfort zones I love that!
So true! Each requires the other, no?
Wow – this prompt really feels like yet another sign from the universe to write about something I have been afraid to do for years now. I have been digging into the hidden fears behind my reluctance and am starting to see how they are the result of literally decades of negative experiences that have made me feel like I need to shrink and hide parts of myself so that others don’t feel uncomfortable. However, I am finally starting to pluck up the courage to embark on this work, and recently put down my first few lines on the topic – it still felt scary but satisfying at the same time. I am also inspired by the potential that may result from embracing what the late Irish writer and theologian, John O’Donohue calls our “wild energies” in the quote below from his book “Walking in Wonder”.
"One of the sad things today is that so many people are frightened by the wonder of their own presence. They are dying to tie themselves into a system, a role, or to an image, or to a predetermined identity that other people have settled on for them. This identity may be totally at variance with the wild energies rising inside their souls. Many of us become afraid and we eventually compromise. We settle for something safe, rather than engaging the danger and wildness in our own hearts."
"When you tell yourself that your research is weird, you don’t give it the time, energy, and respect it deserves."
This is what I've been struggling with... not that it's "weird" per se, but that it's obvious, at least to me! I know it's important, and the literature is glowing with loopholes, but how do I share what I feel needs to be shared? I really love this quote from the prompt! I even feel like I need to blow it up and have it in my workspace to remind me! Thank you, Jo! 🙏🩵💫🙈