Greetings once again and welcome back to the segment of this blog where I talk about the mundane. The state of my hair for example. It was long. It was short. It was black. It was violet. Now it’s a pale mauve shade that I don’t appreciate. But that is what happens when you wash dyed hair. It loses intensity.
I’m in the process of growing back my hair from pixie to something much longer. I loved my short, Peter Pan hair. And I was alright with long hair at one point in my life. But at the ripe old age of 22, I feel like short and natural is what I would enjoy the most. Something a little past the shoulders. Something I can play up or play down. To me long hair is beautiful but a nightmare to keep up with. I always imagine getting married and having long black hair just like my mom did when she got married. However, I’m not so sure about it anymore. Now all I care about is whether it’s healthy and easy enough to maintain.
I guess the reason I bring it up is because trying to grow out a pixie cut is such a process. It’s aggravating watching it turn from short to shaggy to awkward poofy bob that no one can contain. If I’m being honest I know that after two weeks of being obsessed with any single thing my excitement fizzles away. This is the way I am. I become obsessed with things for a short period of time. And then after the initial excitement is over I become restless. I like to do things completely. From start to finish. I think of it as the difference between a sprint and a jog in the park.
For me to be fully committed to anything for longer than two weeks at a time is something of a shock to me. It’s hard for me to keep up the mind set. It’s hard for me to stay persistent. If you were to ask a professional for advice, they would tell you that consistency is key. If you were to ask me, I’d say “I don’t know, I just sit down and do it.” The trouble with being able to do this for so long is that you get to feeling invincible. You start to feel like there is no project too big to crank out at a moment’s notice. What I’m here to tell you today is that if you’ve ever felt that way, I strongly encourage you to think again.
The real work, the best work I mean, is the work that you work on for days and weeks at a time. It’s the stuff that you think, rethink, shape, and reshape until it’s perfect. This is what the professional does. This is also one of the hardest things I’ve ever tried to convince myself to get into. Working on projects one day at a time. Granted, we do have little moments of victory where the sprint is worth getting down to a science. It’s worthwhile to be able to work at maximum overdrive when you find yourself in a pinch. But this is not how any wonderful project is made. It’s just a nice skill to keep in your back pocket for the day that an email was lost, or the day you had your thumb on the wrong day of the calendar.
It is so much easier to keep on working the way we always have. If it works, it works. But slowly I’m getting to realize that sprinting my way through every little project is taking a toll on my health. I feel so crazed. I have a hard time sleeping at normal hours of the day. And at the end, I’ve got this product that isn’t nearly as good as it could have been. Spending a little quality time on projects makes so much of a difference in the end. And I’m pretty excited to start making more things that I’m proud of. Sure I can piece together a project in a few hours. But I’m interested in making the things that I can look back on and think yes, I am responsible for this. This is what gets me so excited to conduct research. It is a lot of one chunk of a time kind of work. It’s not what I’m used to. But discovery, and all the work that goes into doing research is what keeps me going.
Sidenote: Who knew that this is the stuff I’d be so excited about? Not me. Personally I never felt any kind of attachment towards research until I started conducting research of my own. But now I can tell you with some certainty that research projects (that you are interested in) are what dreams are made of.
That’s all for today. Just a personal update about the state of my silly hair and some ramblings about research and what it means to me. It’s completely exciting to me. Probably very boring to some people. But I think that as long as you’re passionate about something and you work hard, that’s all that really matters. And if it feels like you’re not really passionate about anything right now. Well, neither was I about a year or two ago. In time things start to fall into place. And then you won’t have to wonder anymore. Hope you guys have a pleasant afternoon. I’m off to Long Beach in a bit so I’m all amped up to explore and visit with some friends. Take some time to explore soon. I promise that it’s worth it.
Thoughts from Places 