When I attended the workshop a few weeks ago on de-romanticizing the PhD process, one of Dr. Sihra's comments was about the let down after submitting this project on which you have been focused for 3-5 years. As if that 3-5 year journey isn't an intense enough prospect, it was a bit of a revelation that the anxiety of letting go is going to be an issue.
I mean, I know enough about myself to know that I will get intensely focused on little details that I find integral and important when others find those details peripheral, at best. (Mr. Mastodon Farm, eh?) And the paper I just finished was by far the most intense, most thoroughly-produced and -synthesized intellectual product I have created to date. When I think of how much my brain hurts over 6,000 words developed from 6 months of research, the prospect of 6-8 times that experience is daunting. And yet the gratification I feel about how much better I am getting at this academic stuff makes me all the more excited about taking on the next big challenge. Thankfully, the next big challenge is only slightly bigger: my 12,000-15,000 word M.Phil. dissertation.
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