Progress!
Yesterday morning I went to church. They were putting on a Christmas program and several of my friends were involved, so I figured I should make an appearance. I sat in the back and worked on editing a paper when there was enough light to do so. When the lights were turned down, I couldn't read, but I could write, so I took out some blank paper and started doodling ideas for my dissertation.
By the time the service was over, I had a pretty good outline for a dissertation on atheism in America. Obviously, there are a lot of things still to be figured out (I won't even start my prospectus until this summer), but this is an outline and a plan that I can actually follow through on. That makes me feel so much better about all the intermediate steps, now that I know where I'm heading.
My favorite part of the experience, though, is the delicious irony of writing an outline of a book-length work on atheism in America while in church. Whee!
By the time the service was over, I had a pretty good outline for a dissertation on atheism in America. Obviously, there are a lot of things still to be figured out (I won't even start my prospectus until this summer), but this is an outline and a plan that I can actually follow through on. That makes me feel so much better about all the intermediate steps, now that I know where I'm heading.
My favorite part of the experience, though, is the delicious irony of writing an outline of a book-length work on atheism in America while in church. Whee!