First of all, thanks to all of you who checked in, both by e-mail in my absence (yes, B., I'm talking to you), and in the comments after I got back. It's nice to know that people are actually reading enough to notice when I go AWOL.
What happened: See the previous post. No, really: that was it. I took a huge hit to my confidence in my ability to do my job, and as a result, I went into complete retreat. I couldn't work, but I also couldn't properly procrastinate by blogging or stopping in at my blogfriends' virtual homes. I stopped taking pictures (a new hobby of mine), and stopped e-mailing friends. I just sat at home and the hours spun out (there's something to be said for the structure of regular teaching).
I do this sometimes. But after a week or two, I become disgusted with myself, and start taking those first steps back into the land of the living. Lately, I've been working on reading for Big Bad Theoretical Chapter (yep, that's the way I decided to go next), which will be part of my presentation at the end of this month, and will have the extra-special bonus feature of helping me reframe the article.
And, speaking of that: I got a very nice e-mail last night from one of the editors of Journal of Excellent Studies (hat-tip to Squadratomagico, who has also meme-tagged me), in response to my carefully-worded plan for revision. It was brief, but enthusiastic, and not in a form-letter way. So, on the whole, I am feeling more positive today.
And I'm glad to be back among the living. Hi!
6 comments:
Welcome back to the land of the blogging! (I consider returning there myself, now and then.) Your "can't work, can't procrastinate, can only sit and fidget" dilemma is very familiar to me -- I'm glad you came out on the other side and are feeling good about work and etc again.
Take good care! (And I'm watching for more photos.)
Glad you're feeling more positive! I hate getting comments on my work. Man, it sucks. It's better than never sending anything out, though (or so it seems in theory - I'm not very good at following up on this myself...).
Glad to see you back!
Good for you!
We're rootin' for you! Welcome back out of the funk -- I do that too!
All of the above. Especially the welcome back. That hellish hiding place gets crowded apparently. So how come it always feels so damned isolated?
Thank you all. It's good to be back.
You know what makes me laugh? Writing, "Please thank the anonymous reviewer for his/her close reading and thorough comments and suggestions for improving this piece." Sometimes, on a good day, I half-mean it.
Alan, I'll be going to Chicago in a few days to meet up with Miss Diana and Friendly Joe. So photos will ensue.
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