Books to the left of me, articles to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle again!
~ with a nod to Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan
(and if you don't know what I'm talking about, well, you're too young!)
I feel as though I can't read fast enough to find out what I need to know to write this paper! There are so many topics that weave in and out as I try to investigate writing as healing with LGBTQ teens and young adults. First, there's the notion of writing being therapeutic to begin with. Then I need to have an understanding of these alphabet letters: LGBTQ (not to mention the other Q and I!), because people who identify as one of these populations do not all agree on their levels of oppression in our society.
As I navigate through these concepts, I also realize that social networking is another aspect of writing as healing through the connection of isolated teens before they are able to join larger groups on college campuses where LGBTQ populations are larger and more accepted. It's all so interesting, but I'm feeling quite overwhelmed with the nonlinear route this is all taking. I should be used to it by now since all the papers I've written this past year have been like this, but I just feel I have to read EVERYTHING since this paper reflects my dissertation focus and I'm just so fascinated by what I'm discovering. I do have to give a shout out to Mary for her latest post about writing as healing! Thanks, Mary :-)
Perspective, KAT! You aren't writing your dissertation yet. This is a first draft of a literature review, not the final product. :)
ReplyDeleteI was gonna say what Katie said - you can't find and know everything right away Karen. Because you're interested in your topic (isn't it great when that happens?!) you WANT to know everything, but you'll go crazy trying to do that. Perhaps you need to start having some inner dialogue with yourself - tell yourself what you would tell a peer or one of your students.
ReplyDeleteAt some point, you have to stop reading and start writing. For myself, I'm struggling this semester with all of the reading - that's why I love these blog responses, because I miss being able to just write without having to have a hundred sources next to everything I say!
So, academically I say good luck to you, but in my own words I say, chillax dude, you'll be great : ).
AND - I loved the Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan quote....it's a classic : )