The Rollercoaster Ride of Research: A Personal Reflection

2024-03-05

Writing a research paper (well - the Thesis Exposé it is right now) is a bit like embarking on a wild rollercoaster ride, with its highs, lows, and unexpected twists and turns. It is a journey that demands everything you have, pushing you to the limits of your creativity, resilience, and sanity. As someone who has ridden this rollercoaster more than once, I can say with certainty that it is not for the faint of heart.

Imagine this: you begin with an enthusiastic spark of inspiration, a glimmer of an idea that sets your mind racing. You plunge headfirst into the world of literature, studies, and discussions, devouring every bit of information you can get your hands on. For an inquisitive mind like mine, this is exhilarating, invigorating, much like riding the crest of a wave as it crashes against the shore. It is the moment when it happens, the adjustment beforehand, the focused steering, and then that moment when the wave reaches the land, breaks on the shore, and the spray whips up angrily, leaving one soaked through, having reached the goal, perhaps not entirely unscathed, but okay, full of adrenaline, laughing and crying at the same time. On this journey, you are never alone. Your peers are seagulls sailing the very same waves up in the sky, sealife travels at the very same speed in a different sphere and world of motion and sounds underneath your presence, and other beings surf the very same wave with a different perception, at different speed differently skilled. Yes, it is akin to a wild surfing experience.

But then, just when you think you have got it all figured out, life throws you another curveball. Maybe it is a last-minute revision from your advisor, or perhaps it is a technical glitch that wipes out hours of work or a new, more recent literature discovery. Whatever the case, you find yourself back at square one, scrambling to pick up the pieces and start again. It is exhausting, and demoralising, like climbing to the top of a mountain only to slip and fall back down to the bottom, driven by the desire to master the process to achieve your goal.

And amidst this intense process of optimisation, finding and defining direction, I found myself stressed with layouts and finding a design appropriate for the representation of results or ideas. It felt like drowning in a sea of options, each one more overwhelming than the last. Feedback was killing me, though I appreciated them so very much, they were hurting me - ouch. But then, as I sat down again and went through all the things I visualised and mapped before, I became aware—it was all there, all along. I had just strayed too far from it, lost in a whirlwind of inputs and ideas, losing sight of balance in the process.

Yet, as I realigned with my original vision, I found myself back on track. I realised that I did not need edited images or neat economic graphs to convey my message. My sketches and maps would do just fine — on my terms, of course. It is about finding my voice and being true to myself, even if it means straying from conventional norms. After all, authenticity is key in any creative endeavour.

So here is to embracing the chaos, finding beauty in imperfection, and staying true to our unique vision. Here is to trusting our instincts, even when the path ahead seems uncertain. And here is to celebrate the journey, with all its highs, lows, pains and gains, and unexpected detours. In the end, it is not just about reaching the destination — it is about the experiences along the way, the lessons learned, the compromises made, and the growth that comes from pushing past our limits.

Who needs perfection when the sweet taste of self-succession is within reach?

An here I go again - new version of the landing page, at least. ;oP