reflecting on writing inktober so far

2023-10-07

At the beginning of the month, I thought it could be fun to write a series of post following the inktober prompts for this year. I ended up writing 4 inktober posts so far. I did draft a post about maps yesterday¹, but was too tired and just called it a day. I was a little tired today too.

re-evaluating my plans for inktober

Turns out writing a post everyday on a random topic was a little too much for me. Who knew? I suppose I still need to sharpen my writing process.

So I'm thinking of continuing to write every day as much as possible, but to allow some pauses as needed. If I just can't on some day, that's fine. Take a breath, sleep, and look at it again after another planet revolution.

For today, I'll just write this post as a break.

process for inktober

For each article, I would let it marinate in my mind for a few hours, read a couple of other articles around my rough topic, maybe listen to some songs that evoke that feeling, then write my own reflection. As I write about my life, I need to really accept some events happened.

dodging the Russian draft

The last post (on dodging the Russian draft) was particularly heavy, as my relationship to Russia is not something I talk about too much and honestly have been avoiding for forever. I can't follow the news on the war of Ukraine/Russia, it's just too real and makes me depressed. Right before I wrote the post, I listened to Stefania and just broke down crying. This song evokes the idea of saying goodbye to my mother, thanking her for all that she's done for me, as I go to war... it's just so sad.

paths post

Before I wrote the post on paths, I read this post on career advice, saying your career will change you and suggests exploring a bit first. It made me think about how tracked careers can be, yet how I've rebelled against following these standard tracks by following my dad's wisdom.

I also really loved this quote from the article, making me think about what I really want:

[The older people working at your dream job] are the future you. Do not think that you will be substantially different. Look carefully at how they spend their time at work and outside of work, because this is also almost certainly how your life will look. It sounds obvious, but it’s amazing how often young people imagine a different projection for themselves.

• Moxie Marlinspike

It's true! You want to be a professor? Look at what professors actually do. It's usually some combination of critiquing research directions, writing grants, editing papers, teaching, and communicating their results. The ratio of these activities depends on the institution and field of study. Professors focused on science research tend to spend more time writing grants and directing their lab. Professors focused on English writing in a liberal arts college may focus primarily in teaching, and secondarily on writing books.

When I was younger, I somehow felt like Professors had more say in the research direction in their lab (they do, but their grad students and which grants get funded often get the final say). I also didn't realize how often their lives could revolve around their job as they try to survive in the fast academic world. I must admit I still feel the appeal of setting some research direction and being part of the academic world. They also tend to fly often to random conferences around the world, which is pretty cool. It's still a mix, but it's different from what I expected.

#writing