Okay, I’ll admit I’ve been a bit lost since England. With vacations, and weddings, and kids, and, well, life, I lost focus. After a month worth of negative critique (but deserved), rejection of articles (again, deserved), and stagnancy on the dissertation in general, I’ve fallen into a scholarly tail-spin.
Today, I begin refreshed. An amazing friend of mine (and one of my eighteenth-century angels) told me about her mentor’s advice: when you’ve hit a wall, write about it. Focus on the positives and the reasons you love what you’re doing, even if you don’t love it at the moment.
So here goes…
1. I get paid to read books and share my joy with others.
2. On any given Monday, I can log on to ECCO and find titles such as The adventures of Lucifer in London (1799); Adventures under-ground. A letter from a gentleman swallowed up in the late earthquake to a friend on his travels (1750); News from the dead: Or, the Monthly Packet Of True Intelligence from the Other World (1756); A burlesque translation of Homer (1770); and Sighs from hell; or, the groans of a dying soul (1760). Then I can write about them.
3. I love introducing new topics into conversation. I love researching. I love primary sources. I love eighteenth-century legal reforms. I love long, rambling novels. I hate domestic femininity. My dissertation brings all of these things together. (With a little Foucault added in for pizzazz.)
4. I get to do most of my work sitting down.
5. Violence against women still exists. Maybe my work will—in some small way—influence change by discussing the ideological and legal roots of the problem.
The next time you see me moping in the halls, remind me of these things. And I’ll remind you of them too.
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